What’s the story?
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two greatest footballers of our generation and the debate between them has gone on for a long time with fans, pundits and even fellow players having different views on who is better.
The latest to air his opinion on the never-ending debate is Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov. In a recent interview with SRF Sports, Stoichkov, when asked about the difference between Messi and Ronaldo, stated:
“Many people compare Messi with Cristiano but the Argentinean can be compared with the likes of Pelé, Maradona and Cruyff. When you talk about Ronaldo, you can only compare him with Messi. That’s the big difference between them.
“Messi is like God. The other one [Cristiano] could do something one day, maybe. That’s a huge difference.”
In case you didn’t know...
This is not the first time Hristo Stoichkov has gone against Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. The Bulgarian great had ruffled quite a few feathers when he had said that Ronaldo will win the Ballon d’Or only because of his good looks.
In an earlier interview, he had said:
"Griezmann is blowing everyone away and playing some spectacular football, but they'll probably give it to Cristiano Ronaldo again for being guapo[handsome]!"
The heart of the matter
Hristo Stoichkov is one of the greatest ever Barcelona players, but it is pretty clear his views are slightly biased towards Lionel Messi. The Bulgarian is a huge fan of the Argentine forward’s talents and he has time and again picked Messi as the world’s greatest player.
A number of players, legends and pundits have weighed in on the debate and they usually end up choosing either one of these players more out of personal choice than any other reason.
What’s next?
Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will be keen to continue their dominance over world football in the coming years. While Messi has started off 2017 in scintillating form, Ronaldo has slightly been off the pace.
However, the Portuguese superstar will be determined to reach top form again and we could see the very best of Cristiano Ronaldo in the upcoming matches.
Also read: Twitter explodes as Lionel Messi masterclass helps Barcelona destroy Celta Vigo
Sportskeeda’s take
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are easily among the greatest footballers to ever grace the beautiful game.While Stoichkov is definitely entitled to his opinion, his comments and earlier interviews show a clear bias against Cristiano Ronaldo and should be taken with a pinch of salt.
