Paolo Di Canio has admitted he prefers Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi, because the Argentine is an “alien without emotions”.
Messi has endured a difficult week at Paris Saint-Germain after the French club were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.
PSG surrendered a 2-0 lead on aggregate as Karim Benzema scored a 17-minute hat-trick to dump Mauricio Pochettino’s side out with a 3-2 defeat in the last 16 .
The result was followed by Ronaldo’s stunning hat-trick in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Tottenham on Saturday – a week after missing the Manchester derby with a hip flexor injury.
And former Sunderland manager Di Canio used the contrast to lay into Messi, who he believes does not help himself with his on-pitch body language.
"Messi left the pitch scratching his head, he has no emotions," he said on Sky Sport Italia.
"I prefer Cristiano Ronaldo. ‘Do you want me to sit on the bench against Man City?’
“I go back to Portugal, then I return and score a hat-trick. I prefer the human who has a soul to the alien without emotions."
Messi’s move from Barcelona to PSG in the summer is yet to pay off, with the 34-year-old contributing seven goals and 10 assists in 25 appearances so far for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
The Argentine star has become a lightning rod for PSG fans’ unhappiness over the past five days.
He and Neymar were relentlessly booed by the home fans, despite starring in a 3-0 win over Bordeaux on Sunday.
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PSG fans are furious at what they see as mismanagement from the club’s hierarchy and have demanded the resignations of sporting director Leonardo and president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
Fans wrote an open letter to the club and covered the Parc des Princes with graffiti before making their feelings known from the stands on Sunday.
Former Italy striker Di Canio has no sympathy for Messi, or Neymar, who scored against Bordeaux to help PSG go 15 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 with 10 games left to play.
"Messi showed his personality limits,” Di Canio added. “Of course, he can be booed. There were thousands of fans waiting for him. They were dreaming, but his behaviour was not the right one.
"Neymar was even worse. He is not doing remarkable things and last month, he said that he wanted to go to the MLS to have three months holiday.
“I mean, have respect, you must have some problems."
Pochettino said he understood the supporters’ frustrations but called for unity in his post-match comments.
“I’m sad with what I experienced today. We were all affected,” he said.
"We understand the disappointment and the frustration. We’re all living it together, as a team.
"We have a duty to take responsibility for what happened. We share this disappointment with the supporters."
