Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Football, Ligue 1, Cristiano Ronaldo, Saudi Pro League, Lionel Messi
Luke Davies
Topics: Football, Ligue 1, Cristiano Ronaldo, Saudi Pro League, Lionel Messi
A former Premier League and World Cup winner has hit back at Cristiano Ronaldo’s comments regarding Ligue 1.
Ronaldo, 39, currently plays for Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr.
During his illustrious career, he has played in the Premier League for Manchester United, La Liga for Real Madrid and Primeira Liga with Sporting CP.
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However, he recently gave a brutal take on Ligue 1, while speaking at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, UAE.
"The French league? Of course [it is worse],” he said.
“I don't say that because I play there [in Saudi Arabia]. They [people] should go there and play there, to see. To run in 38, 39, 40 degrees and sprint a few times, just to see how they're going to be. Don't believe in my words - go there and see.
"Only in France is PSG, the rest is finished.
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"It's my opinion. In France it is only PSG, sorry. The other ones compete, okay. But PSG is the strongest - nobody competes with them.
"They have better players, they are the club with more money. This is a fact, and I don't understand why people are so surprised."
Of course, fans were quick to point out how his long-term rival Lionel Messi played for PSG between 2021 and 2023.
And now, a former Ligue 1 star who made 221 appearances in the division has hit back at the Portuguese’s claims.
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Emmanuel Petit played for Monaco between 1988 and 1997 before moving to Arsenal, where he won the Premier League in 1998.
He then went on to play for Barcelona and Chelsea, as well as being part of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning side.
“I watched the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards ceremony, I didn't even know there was a ceremony like this,” Petit told Discasino.
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“It was almost Real Madrid's ceremony with the awards they won, FIFA must have loved it.
"Cristiano Ronaldo had some bad criticism, saying the Saudi Arabian league is better than Ligue 1. Come on, I have a massive respect for Ronaldo's career and his impact on football, but sometimes it's better to stay quiet and not say anything instead of gathering that attention.
“I didn't like his comments, I didn't like the ceremony either, it was all about singers, rappers and diamonds, you know? If I had the chance of changing the television off, I would, but I was in a studio so I couldn't."