Ronaldo vs Messi

Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo: Pele takes a side

By Cindy Boren

Lionel Messi (right) jokes around with his teammates during training for Sunday’s El Clasico. (Gustau Nacarino / Reuters)

Who’s the better player, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?

The debate has gone on a while now and Sunday’s edition of El Clasico between Ronaldo’s Real Madrid and Messi’s Barcelona has slightly  settled it. Prior  to the  match  Pele  stepped  up.

“At the moment people always try to compare Ronaldo with Messi [but] it’s a different style,” the legendary former player from Brazil told the BBC’s Sportsweek. “They are two great players, but in the past 10 years the best in the world was Messi.”
That’s a reversal for Pele, who in January 2014 said Ronaldo was better because Messi was struggling with injury. Messi, 27, leads Ronaldo, 30, in the Ballon d’Or battle, winning four to Ronaldo’s three. As for team championships, Ronaldo won three Premier League titles with Manchester United and one La Liga title. (He has won the Champions League with both teams.) Messi and Barcelona have won La Liga six times and the Champions League three times.
Pele wasn’t finishing ranking players, though.
“Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, George Best — they were the same level as Messi,” he said. “We had in Brazil Zico, Rivaldo.”

The  argument stemmed  more  when Ronaldo  moved  from   Old Trafford (Manchester  United) to  Real  Madrid  in the  summer  of  2009.  lhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/manchester-united/5505073/Cristiano-Ronaldo-transfer-Real-Madrid-agree-80-million-fee-with-Manchester-United.html. 

This  move  meant  that Ronaldo  had  to  face  Messi  in  every El Classico encounter with  Barcelona. It  was  unfortunate  for  the Portuguese international  because  the  man  he  wanted  to  compete  with  was  also  from  another  planet. Lionel  Messi  was  unquestionably at  his peak.    Thus was  named the  football  magician,  the  god  of  football.