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What's the story?
Former Liverpool and Valencia left-back Fabio Aurelio has made his pick between five-time Ballon d'Or winners Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, stating that the Barcelona captain is "the best in the world for years".
In case you didn't know...
Messi and Ronaldo have established themselves as legends of the game, having led their respective sides to domestic and European glory over the years. The duo shares a staggering ten Ballon d'Or awards between them and it looks like the prestigious gong is making its way back to familiar territory this year.
The Barcelona maestro recently scored a phenomenal brace to help his side to a three-goal advantage against Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals. With the brace, Messi took his goal tally to 48 in all competitions, while leading the race for the European Golden Shoe with 34 La Liga goals.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo has helped Juventus to their eighth consecutive Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana, but could not help the Italian champions get past Ajax in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
The heart of the matter
Aurelio, who spent six years at Liverpool, has hailed Messi as "incomparable" following his Champions League heroics against his former side, telling Marca,
"What Messi does is very difficult to explain. For me, he's been the best in the world for years, but [on Wednesday] he showed so much will to win, he's always faced up to the challenge."
"Many compare Messi to Ronaldo, but for those that like football, [Messi] is incomparable."
Speaking of the game, Aurelio said,
"The injury to [Roberto] Firmino hurt Liverpool. But they still had chances that you just can't miss in these matches, especially with Monster Messi around."
"If [Liverpool] had scored, it would've been easier [in the second leg]. But it's 3-0 and, from what we saw from Messi and Barcelona, they're much stronger than a year ago."
What's next?
Following the decisive Champions League win, Barcelona will shift their focus to La Liga where they are scheduled to face Ceta Vigo tomorrow night.
