Cristiano Ronaldo has denied that he insulted fellow soccer player Lionel Messi, noting that he has "the utmost respect for all my professional colleagues, and Messi is obviously no exception."

The Real Madrid star and Barcelona player are almost tied as the best player in the world as ESPN wrote that Messi beat the Portuguese to become the Champion's League "all-time record goalscorer" while Ronaldo, on the other hand, put an end to Messi's consecutive Ballon d'Or wins last year.

According to ESPN, a part of the book "Messi" which was written by Guillem Balague reveals how Ronaldo prepares himself to face Messi.

"Ronaldo, perhaps as a symptom of the immaturity that marks so many footballers, thinks it necessary to put on a brave face in front of his team-mates, not be scared of Messi and to rise to the challenge. All very macho; all very false," an excerpt of the book read.

It further shared that nickname Ronaldo has given to Messi. "And that is why, according to some Real Madrid players, CR7 has a nickname for him: 'm-----f-----'; and if he sees someone from the club speaking to Leo, he also ends up being baptised 'm-----f-----.'"

In a post on his Facebook page, Ronaldo vehemently denied creating a pet name for his rival.

"News is circulating that I allegedly made offending remarks regarding Lionel Messi. This is absolutely false and I have assured my lawyer takes action to sue those responsible." part of his post explained.

A Daily Mail report said that Balague's book also discussed that the two top players are "not friends" but are only acting polite in front of the cameras.

This has not been the first time that someone noticed a supposed rift between the two. A Telegraph report said that Dutch football manager Ruud Gullit also observed "a strange relationship between Cristiano and Messi; they barely say hello to one another." Their families, however said that they do not hate each other as other people think.

Telegraph added that Messi looks up to Ronaldo's shooting and heading ability but doesn't want to be compared to him all the time and perhaps the Real Madrid player feels the same way.

Since they are the top players of two of the biggest teams in soccer, rivalry cannot be avoided but fans are hoping that both of them will just put all the issues aside and let respect prevail. There can also be times when a lot of people may also be overstepping on their real situation just to create an issue between the two.