'It will remain forever' - Messi speaks openly about 'special duel' with Ronaldo

Lionel Messi believes his 'special' La Liga duel with Cristiano Ronaldo will 'remain forever' in people's minds despite his rival's switch to the Serie A.

"It was a special duel and it will remain forever, because it lasted many years and it is not easy to maintain certain levels for a long time, plus the teams we played in were also very demanding, both Real Madrid and Barça, the two best in the world," Messi told La Liga on DAZN .

"Competing on an equal footing for so many years, I think it will remain forever. The sporting duel between us was very nice on a personal level and I think people had fun too, whether it was from Madrid or from Barça, or even only football fans in general."

Messi remembered the times he took on Ronaldo fondly and said Barcelona's El Clasico matches against Real Madrid were more important when the Portugal international was playing in them.

"Obviously when Cristiano was at Real Madrid the matches were always special," Messi said.

"Against Real they are always particular matches for the meaning, but when Cristiano was there they became much more special.

"But they are stages that have now passed, that we have experienced, but now look ahead and see what we have now."