Manchester United’s famous retired boss Sir Alex Ferguson made his feelings clear when he was asked to settle the much talked about GOAT debate between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
For the best part of 15 years, Messi and Ronaldo dominated the world football stage.
Messi came through the youth team ranks at Barcelona and has lifted eight Ballon d’Or in his remarkable career so far. In fact, the Argentine scored 672 goals in 778 games, winning 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League titles.
The latter stages of Messi’s career have been spent with Paris Saint-Germain and now MLS side Inter Miami; Not to mention his recent success with Argentina, winning two Copa America titles and the World Cup in 2022.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s career has mostly run parallel to Messi’s as they have met on opposing sides on several occasions, with the Portuguese himself winning five Ballon d’Or titles.
Ronaldo moved to Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 for more than £12 million and won three Premier League titles and the Champions League at Old Trafford.
He moved to Real Madrid in 2009 for a then world record £80 million transfer fee and began facing Messi regularly at Barcelona.
Ronaldo scored 450 goals in 438 games for Real and won four more Champions League titles and two La Liga titles at the Santiago Bernabéu.
He moved to Juventus in 2018, before returning to United in 2021, but Ronaldo’s second stint at Old Trafford ended at the end of 2022 when his contract was terminated by mutual consent, and he subsequently joined Saudi Pro League side Moved to Al-Nasr, where he remains to this day.
Like Messi, Ronaldo has also tasted success on the international stage after winning the Nations League and the European Championship with Portugal.
Ronaldo has won it all. Image Credit: Getty
Sir Alex managed Ronaldo during the attacker’s first spell at United, and he came up against Messi at Barcelona, with the Catalan side beating the Old Trafford outfit with the Argentine forward scoring in both the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals.
The former United boss, who retired in 2013, once gave his views on who he believes is better between Ronaldo and Messi – and although he admitted he could not argue with those who said While saying that Argentina is the best in the world, he made another argument where he suggests that Ronaldo can play for wider teams than Messi.
Speaking back in 2015, according to Manchester Evening NewsHe said: “People say who is the best player in the world? And a lot of people say absolutely right Messi – you can’t dispute that opinion.
“But Ronaldo could play for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Doncaster Rovers, anyone and score a hat-trick in one game.
“I’m not sure Messi can do it. Ronaldo has two feet, he’s fast, great in the air, he’s brave – of course Messi is brave. I think Messi is a Barcelona player.”