Lionel Messi praises "phenomenal" Cristiano Ronaldo

The Barcelona playmaker has played down the seeming fiery rivalry between himself and Ronaldo, describing it the hand work of the press.

The last nine Ballon D'or has been between won by one of the two players, and Ronaldo is favorite for the next edition of the award.

The Portuguese fired Madrid to the double this season, as the Capital based club became the first team to win the Champions League back to back.

Ronaldo played a vital role in Madrid's European triumph as his scored 10 goals in the last six matches running into the final, including a brace against Juventus in the final to emerge as the competition's highest goal scorer.

"That thing about our rivalry is something more invented by the press than by us," Messi told Tencent Sports.

"What we want is to do our best every year, to do the best for our teams and what is spoken from outside is not something I give importance to.

"He is a phenomenal player who has many qualities that year after year he improves and that is why he is one of the best in the world."

Messi will lead Argentina out against Brazil in a friendly on Friday at the  Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. While Ronaldo captains Portugal for their  World Cup Qualifiers First round against Latvia on Friday also.