Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez insists his former teammate Lionel Messi remains the best player on the planet while also clarifying his view on Cristiano Ronaldo ’s status in elite football.
The Portuguese superstar ended his relationship with Man United by mutual consent last week, following his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. He has now switched fully to international mode and is aiming to break multiple different World Cup records.
Ronaldo became the first player to score in five different World Cups when he netted against Ghana in his nation's opening World Cup game. Messi too is in international mode as he bagged in Argentina’s victory over Mexico on Saturday after also netting in their opening shock opening defeat against Saudi Arabia.
The two superstars swiftly ascended to stardom in the opening seasons of their career, but their rivalry went into overdrive when they spearheaded Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. The duo are two of the greatest players ever to step onto a pitch, and they led two of modern football’s greatest sides.
Despite now being aged 35, Xavi – who captained Messi over several seasons at Barcelona – insists that the superstar is still the best player in world football while also insisting that while Ronaldo was still among the best, his ‘still’ analysis suggests his belief that he was never at Messi’s level and not even in the top two in the world.
Xavi explained, as per Mundo Deportivo : "He (Messi) is still number one. Cristiano Ronaldo is still among the 3-5 best on the planet as well." The Barca boss was then asked if he would like to coach Messi and he replied: "Of course, who wouldn’t?"
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Xavi added when asked about what other players he would love to be able to coach, he continued: "Any of the greats. In France, Mbappe for example. Neymar, Messi, I would like them a lot.''
Ronaldo’s nine years at Real Madrid saw him obliterate the club’s goal scoring record with a scarcely believable 450 goals in just 438 appearances, before leaving for Juventus in 2018. Messi’s 672 goals across 16 Barca matches was not just the club’s highest ever goal tally, but more than tallies of the second highest, third highest and fourth highest combined.
The two players shared a remarkable sporting rivalry across more than a decade. They won 12 of 13 successive Ballon d’Or titles between them, with Messi edging out Ronaldo with seven individual honours compared to the Portuguese superstar’s five gongs (Luka Modric, in 2018, was the only player to break the sequence).
Conversely, Ronaldo leads Messi on Champions League titles won with his five crowns eclipsing Messi’s four (although the Argentine did not play a role in the latter stages of Barca’s 2006 success) in Europe’s premier club competition. Messi has won more league titles but Ronaldo – who is two years his elder – has scored more goals at both club and international level.
