I meant indirect in the sense that Ribbons tried to get everyone else to do his dirty work for him, which in the end made the audience despise him even more, and thus want Setsuna to take him down.
And they were more than ideas to each other, Ribbons is a person (well...not really, but oh well) that thought he had everything, everyone and even Veda under his control, and why? Because he thought he was the perfect Innovator, and because of this the one to lead humanity. Then comes along this boy that he saw potential in and has the opportunity to surpass him as the one who will lead humanity. I personally think that the tension between the two is fantastic, and especially when Ribbons realizes things really aren't going as well as he planned. Sure, they hadn't been directly fighting, but everytime Setsuna fought the A-Laws or any innovator, he was fighting Ribbons and because of that the rivalry enRAB up working out.