If Cristiano Ronaldo winning last night's Ballon d'Or award on Monday night was a near-forgone conclusion, the Portuguese forward's response to being probed on the eternal debate of 'Ronaldo or Messi' was inevitable.
The 31-year-old powered his way to a fourth trophy, just one fewer than Lionel Messi's all-time record, by winning theChampions League and Euro 2016 in a trophy-tastic year.
The two have been billed as fierce rivals, due to their dominance of individual awards over the past decade. The last time the Ballon d'Or was awarded to a player other than Messi or Ronaldo was in 2007 -when it was presented to Brazilian playmaker Kaka.
This year, Ronaldo amassed 745 points (more than 400 more than Messi) in the prestigious vote, run by France Football anddecided by international football writers.
Following the ceremony, the Real Madrid star was asked byFrance Footballwho he thought would collect the awardmore often, if both he and Messi were teammates.
Sergio Ramos has presented a Ballon d'Or shaped cake to Cristiano Ronaldo after he won the award for the fourth time.
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[Via @realmadrid] pic.twitter.com/oM8svjBIZJ
"It would be interesting to see both of us in the same team. I think great players should play together. So if we were in the same team, I think I would have more than him, but he wouldn't be far off" said Ronaldo, unsurprisingly.
Could that be taken as asubtle admission that perhaps Messi's Barcelona is the superior team? Probably not.
The former Manchester United winger did, however, concede that his perceived arch-rival is still a worthy champion too.
"Everyone knows Messi is a great player. He's won five Ballons d'Or" he added.
The stream ofmedals will continue to flow like tap water for Ronaldo, should his Real Madrid side win the Club World Cup this week.
Los Blancos face Club America of Mexicoon Thursday, and pending victorywill play in Sunday's final in Tokyo.
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The football world reacts to Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or win  pic.twitter.com/ElzhmkQd1M