Cristiano Ronaldo's mother follows Lionel Messi lead and gifts Manchester United star's shirt to Pope

Cristiano Ronaldo’s mother has followed his great rival’s lead by presenting Pope Francis with one of the Manchester United superstar’s shirts.

Dolores Aveiro travelled to the Vatican on Wednesday as the Pope held a General Audience, giving members of the public the chance to meet him as he delivers a message to those who have visited.

And Aveiro made sure she took along a souvenir for the Pope to add to his growing collection of football memorabilia.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church was given a signed shirt by his fellow Argentine Messi a few months ago, with the framed Paris Saint-Germain jersey being presented by French Prime Minister Jean Castex during a diplomatic visit to the Vatican in October.

And the Pope now has a Ronaldo shirt to go alongside it – although he didn’t get a United shirt with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s name on it.

Instead, Aveiro presented the spiritual leader with a Portugal shirt bearing her son’s name and iconic number 7 as she met Pope Francis.

The 67-year-old posted a picture of her meeting on Instagram as she gave him the gift, writing: “A very unique emotion, thank you.”

Although the gift will mean a great deal, it might not be enough to sway the Pope over to the other side of the Ronaldo vs Messi debate.

The former Barcelona forward has met the Pope twice, and the latter even went as far as saying the 34-year-old is better than the legendary duo of Diego Maradona and Pele – although he has insisted the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner “is not God”.

Pope Francis is an avid football fan, having grown up supporting San Lorenzo, and greeting the squad in 2014 after they won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in their history.

Sign up to our United newsletter so you