Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid -- widely considered the two best players in the world -- have both sounded off in the last few weeks about the endless comparisons between them in the press. Messi, voted the best player in the world for the last three years, said he has grown “tired” of the comparisons, while Ronaldo, voted best player in the world in 2008, recently admitted there is nothing he can do to stop them.

"It's not just now, it's the last five years -- it's always the same," Ronaldo told beIN Sport. "I cannot change that. I don't work in the press, I don't work in television. They love doing that." The Portuguese captain called Messi “a great player,” but said "I'm not a friend of him because we don't share the same dressing room and do not go out for dinner, but I respect him as a professional.”

Meanwhile, Messi recently said that what Ronaldo says or does, does not concern him. “When anything happens, journalists are always looking to compare the two of us,” the Argentina captain told France Football. “They always want a competition between us. I’m a bit tired of it all.”

Both players are the favorites to win the 2012 FIFA Ballon d’Or award, which will be handed out at a ceremony in Zurich on January 7, 2013.