'I'm a keeper who's faced Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi - one gave me no chance'
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Former Spanish goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez has revealed that he preferred to play against Cristiano Ronaldo than Lionel Messi, as he deemed the Argentinian icon a "nightmare". Jimenez, who spent time at several Spanish clubs, including Atletico Madrid, Real Zaragoza, Espanyol and Malaga during his stint in the game, has opened up on the occasions he faced the iconic duo in La Liga. Jimenez, who was known as 'Roberto', played 359 times across his career, which also took him to the Premier League for a brief spell with West Ham United.
However, it's his days facing down Ronaldo and Messi that still play on his mind. Speaking on the Los Fulanos podcast, the 38-year-old confessed that he often struggled to contain Messi, yet had a more fruitful time against Ronaldo - as the Portuguese star provided him with more chances to make a save.
Messi scored against Roberto in all seven of the games they contested and, in total, scored 13 goals against him, including one hat-trick and four braces. "I could never stop Messi," Roberto said. "Whenever he got close, he scored. Cristiano plays differently and gives you more chances to stop him, so it is more fun," he added.
Roberto candidly revealed that his dislike of playing against Barcelona icon Messi was such that he even refused to ask for the legendary player's shirt, despite being an avid collector of jerseys. He also lifted the lid on how he often felt "humiliated" by the World Cup winner.
"Messi has been an absolute nightmare for me," He said. "I have the shirts of all the great players I have faced and those of my friends, but I never wanted Messi's. Now I regret it because when time passes, you say, well, 'I've played against him'. If he drove me crazy it's because I was there too, on the same field as him, but I never asked him for his shirt because he always humiliated me.
