One of the reasons I think this is their personalities off the pitch. Most young lads playing football will look up to Ronaldo more due to him being more extroverted and seems to be more bothered about his appearance and stuff than Messi does. As I stated, it’s not the reason, but I think it’s one of them. This is normal with all walks of life, different personalities attract more admirers/fans.
And then there’s the Madrid effect too, where you can’t be seen to be saying you prefer Messi. Listen to Phil Kitro on the episode of The Spanish Football Podcast after he left his role at Real Madrid TV.
Nah it’s not the entirely same, there’s been previous examples given where people at Madrid know they aren’t allowed to say it. The very next podcast after leaving Real Madrid TV, Phil Kitro mentioned how he thinks Messi is the best player and alluded to that he wasn’t allowed to say that whilst working for Real Madrid.