Football

‘But as an all-round footballer…’ – Former Manchester United legend breaks silence on the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi debate

Messi had won the 2022 World Cup at Qatar.

Apr 11, 2023 4:50 pm

One of the longstanding debates that have been often touched upon over the last two decades among football fans is Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi. The debate about who is the greatest of all time (GOAT) continues to rage on in the beautiful game. Former Manchester United player Paul Scholes has decided to end the debate. Messi and Ronaldo are icons when it comes to football and have 12 Ballon d’Or awards between two.

The two have dominated football for a long time and the only difference is that Messi is a World Cup winner, but Ronaldo is not. In the FIFA World Cup 2022, Messi helped Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties to win the World Cup. Scholes who has played with Ronaldo at Manchester United said that Messi is a freer flowing player than Ronaldo.

Messi has absolutely everything- Paul Scholes

“Messi (is the best), but Ronaldo is brilliant. Ronaldo is sensational at what he does, with pace and power. He scores; he takes free-kicks. But as an all-round footballer, Messi – wow, his passing – he has absolutely everything.” Scholes had said to the Independent in 2015 . “I think about the great players with whom I have shared a pitch: Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, Pirlo, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo – and the greatest of them all is Messi.” He added.

Taking about Scholes and Ronaldo they spent a long time playing together at Manchester United. Scholes starred in 184 games for the Red Devils. The duo had scored 9 goals together for the club. The former star faced Messi four times in his football career. Which happened to being the UEFA Champions League: in the semifinals of the 2007-08 season and in the 2008-09 and 2010-11 finals.

The Red Devils won the semis over Barcelona 1-0 on aggregate, but they were also on the wrong side the 2009 and 2011 finals 2-0 and 3-1, respectively. Messi and Ronaldo have etched their names in the history of Football and their names will forever be remembered as all time greats. Ronaldo had left Manchester United and joined Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.