Chess legend claims he was told to say Cristiano Ronaldo was his favourite player
Chess legend Magnus Carlsen, considered the best ever by some, has claimed that Real Madrid made him say Cristiano Ronaldo was his favourite player, even though that wasn't the case, as you can see in the video.
To many around, Ronaldo is still the greatest of all time at football, even if you'd hope they'd concede that he isn't one of the best right now, having reached 37-years-old.
Ronaldo can't even get in the Manchester United team at the moment, although that's at least partially to do with annoyance that he even has to be there.
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During his time at Real Madrid however, no one could have doubted that he at very least was in the conversation to be the GOAT, although obviously some would have argued Lionel Messi's case.
One fan who was lucky enough to see the five time Ballon d'Or winner live on several occasions was chess star Carlsen, who some might even compare as the Ronaldo of his sport, because he could be consider the greatest.
The Norwegian grandmaster however has revealed that, despite being a fan of Real, he actually prefers Messi, and CR7 wasn't even his favourite Los Blancos player.
Speaking on YouTuber Lex Fridman's channel, Carlsen revealed that it didn't go down well with the side from the Spanish capital and he was made to change his answers.
"I think it’s pretty hard to make a case for anybody else than [Lionel] Messi for his all-round game," the chess grandmaster said.
"My Real Madrid fandom sort of predates the Ronaldo era – the second Ronaldo, not the first one [Ronaldo Nazario].
"I always liked Ronaldo but I always kind of thought that Messi was better.
"I went to quite a number of Madrid games and they’ve always been super helpful to me down there. The only thing is that they were going to do an interview and they were going to ask me who my favourite player was.
"I said somebody else, I think it was Isco at that point, and they were like, ‘Okay, take two, now you say Ronaldo.'
"So for them it was very important, but it wasn’t that huge to me.”
Like his rival, Messi is also no longer at the peak of his powers, at the age of 35, and isn't as important to PSG as he was for all those years to Barcelona.
On Sunday he was substituted in the final minutes of the Ligue 1 champions game with Monaco, as they attempted to find a late winner.
It's fair to say the seven time Ballon d'Or winner was less than impressed by Christophe Galtier's decision to replace him with Pablo Sarabia.
The Parisian's boss has more pressing issues to worry about, with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe's relationship an issue at the moment, with the Brazilian controversially taking penalty duties from his teammate on Sunday.
Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Real Madrid, Isco, FC Barcelona, Man Utd, PSG
Ryan Sidle