Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: The never-ending debate

Alex Ferguson, legendary Manchester United manager, added more fuel to the never-ending fire when speaking to the media today.

To the very unoriginal question “Who is the best player in modern football, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?”, one of the best managers in football history replied:

“People say, who is the best player in the world? Plenty of people say Messi, and you can’t dispute that opinion.”

“But Ronaldo could play for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Doncaster Rovers or anyone, and score a hat-trick in a game. I’m not sure Messi could do that. Ronaldo has got two feet, quick, good in the air, brave – Messi is brave of course, I think Messi is a Barcelona player.”

With all due respect to Alex Ferguson, it is pretty much impossible to predict what Messi would be capable of in the English Premier League and, if everything goes to plan, Cules will never find out. The Argentinean No.10 has repeatedly explained his desire to remain at Barcelona until the end of his career and, to be honest, we would be delighted to make the dreams of the best goalscorer in over 115 years of history come true.

Having said that, a player of La Pulga’s calibre would be more than capable of adapting to any style of football in the planet if he truly wanted to do so thanks to his blistering speed, immaculate understanding of the game and, above all, constant desire to become a more complete player on a daily basis.

Please don’t get me wrong, Cristiano Ronaldo is obviously a hugely talented player whose physicality, ability in front of goal and hunger for success make him stand tall and clear above your average footballer.

However, if given the choice between the two world-class stars, it is clear that Cules will always stand by the special moments of magic that the legendary Lionel Messi continues to produce week in, week out — and hopefully for many years to come.

Published by Francesc Tomas, columnist for ESPN, Weloba and founder at Barcablog.com.