Cristiano Ronaldo Appears to Unfollow Bernardo Silva After Ballon d’Or Comment About Messi

• Cristiano Ronaldo has seemingly unfollowed his international teammate Bernardo Silva on Instagram
• Silva recently gave his two cents on the Ballon d'Or topic and backed Ronaldo's nemesis, Lionel Messi
• Messi is among leading favourites to win the 2023 award after winning the World Cup with Argentina

Football fans online are convinced that Cristiano Ronaldo unfollowed Bernardo Silva after the Manchester City star made some comments about the Ballon d'Or debate.

Ronaldo has fallen down the pecking order in the last two years after a crisis-ridden second spell at Manchester United before moving to the Middle East, where he now turns for Al-Nassr.

His tally of five Ballon d'Or awards is only second to Lionel Messi's seven in history.

Silva, who shares the international dressing room with Ronaldo, opened up on how he used to react when he missed out on winning the most coveted individual award when he was at the peak of his powers.

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"I was in the selection two or three times when he won it. We congratulate him and we talk. When he doesn't win, we're not happy too because he's a player who really likes to be on top. He talks to people: 'I thought I deserved a little more', a really competitive player, who is into this type of thing. He likes to be on top a lot," he said, as quoted by Sportskeeda.

The 28-year-old then backed either Erling Haaland or Messi to win this year's award.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward won the Qatar World Cup with Argentina, and it is believed he is already a frontrunner to win his record-extending eighth title.

It is these comments that fans believe made Ronaldo unfollow Silva.

It is not understood if he followed him in the first place, but the national team captain follows a number of Selecao regulars like Pepe, Joao Moutinho, and Bruno Fernandes.

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Neville settles Ronaldo, Messi debate

Sports Brief has also reported that Gary Neville is the latest high-profile ex-footballer to weigh in on the eternal argument on who the football GOAT is between Ronaldo and Messi.

The debate over which football star rules between the Portuguese icon and his long-time Argentine adversary has frequently caused division among fans, pundits and even players.

Neville praised the legendary duo of Ronaldo and Messi as the best players of all time before seemingly basing his decision on which of the two he had personally interacted with.