"Has absolutely everything" - When Manchester United legend picked Lionel Messi as his GOAT over Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes once sided with Lionel Messi instead of former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo in the GOAT debate. The Argentinean and the Portuguese have redefined football excellence in their esteemed careers so far.

Scholes played alongside the five-time Ballon d'Or winner for six seasons at Old Trafford, where they won the Premier League and the Champions League, among others. They shared the pitch on 183 occasions for the Red Devils and even contributed eight goals together.

However, speaking to ESPN in 2018 following Lionel Messi's brace against Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League, Scholes placed the Argentine maestro above Cristiano Ronaldo.

"Watching Messi against Tottenham at Wembley made me think about the Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo debate again. Messi, 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 – has absolutely everything,” said Scholes.

Scholes also penned a column in 2015 for The Standard outlining how hard it was to play against the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner.

"I am not ashamed to admit that in the games against Barcelona I spent a lot of the time just hoping he would take up positions as far away from me as possible. Elusive is the word that immediately springs to mind when I think about Messi’s style of play," wrote Scholes.

He continued:

"You think you have an eye on him and then – blink – he has gone, only to reappear somewhere else in space, with the ball. When you try to face up to him and make a tackle you know what it is he is going to do with the ball. The problem is staying with him."

Lionel Messi currently plies his trade with Inter Miami, while Cristiano Ronaldo plays for Al-Nassr.

How many times did Paul Scholes play against Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in his career?

Paul Scholes faced Lionel Messi four times in his career, all during the Argentine's stay with Barcelona. La Pulga won two games and lost just once against the English midfielder.

Interestingly, that one defeat was in the Champions League semifinal in 2008, when Manchester United secured a 1-0 win over Barcelona via a Paul Scholes goal. Meanwhile, the legendary Englishman also played against Cristiano Ronaldo twice in his career, registering one draw and one defeat.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven years at Sportskeeda. He has written more than 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 20 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Deepungsu Pandit