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‘They were like, ‘Okay, take two, now say Ronaldo”: World No 1 chess player Magnus Carlsen reveals Real Madrid TOLD him to say Portuguese star is best player ever during interview with club… even though he prefers Lionel Messi
- Magnus Carlsen was told to say Cristiano Ronaldo was his favourite player
- Carlsen was interviewed by Real Madrid when he was asked to change from Isco
- The World chess champion revealed he prefers PSG star Lionel Messi to Ronaldo
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Legendary chess champion Magnus Carlsen has revealed that he was once told to say his favourite player was Cristiano Ronaldo during an interview with Real Madrid.
The five-time World Chess Champion who reportedly has an IQ of 190, told all on the Lex Fridman podcast and gave his true thoughts on who he believes is the greatest footballer of all time.
‘I think it’s pretty hard to make a case for anybody else than [Lionel] Messi for his all-round game,’ admitted the 31-year-old.
Norwegian Chess legend Magnus Carlsen was often in attendance at the Santiago Bernabeu
Carlsen revealed that Lionel Messi is his preferred choice between the two superstar players
‘My Real Madrid fandom sort of predates the Ronaldo era – the second Ronaldo, not the first one [Ronaldo Nazario].
‘I always liked Ronaldo but I always kind of thought that Messi was better.’
Carlsen is no stranger to the Santiago Bernabeu and told podcast listeners that he has been to watch the 14-time European Cup winners on many occasions before revealing the club told him to switch his personal choice on the club’s favourite player during the interview.
The chess star said: ‘I went to quite a number of Madrid games and they’ve always been super helpful to me down there. The only thing is that they were going to do an interview and they were going to ask me who my favourite player was.
‘I said somebody else, I think it was Isco at that point, and they were like: ‘Okay, take two, now you say Ronaldo’.
Real Madrid told Carlsen to change his choice of favourite player from Isco to Ronaldo
‘So for them it was very important, but it wasn’t that huge to me.’
Both players have taken a back seat in recent years from the spotlight of La Liga’s two football giants.
Messi is now plying his trade at Paris Saint-Germain, sharing the spotlight with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe whilst Ronaldo’s Manchester United future is unclear as he desperately searches for an escape route before Thursday’s transfer deadline.