Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and no goalkeeper: Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta picks ideal 5-a-side team

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has picked Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in his ideal five-a-side team.

The Spanish tactician sat down with PlanetFootball as part of a promotional event for Soccer Manager 24 — a mobile football management game. He was asked to name his ideal five-a-side team, to which he replied:

"The No.1 and I didn’t play with him or manage, it would have to be Leo Messi. That’s for sure because he’s been in my opinion the most influential player ever in the history of football. We’ve never seen someone do what he has done on the pitch for that many years."

He then picked Al-Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo alongside Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario in his team. Arteta added:

"Then with [Cristiano] Ronaldo I would do the same thing and I would put the other Ronaldo [Nazario] because since I was a kid I was in love with him... Then I would put Johan Cruyff there for sure because of his intelligence and what he did for the game and they are all attacking players."

The former Manchester City assistant manager concluded:

"But the other one I have to do is Maradona because of my family and the Argentinian origin I have as well because of my wife. The way he transformed football and Barcelona during that period, he has to be there."

It is worth mentioning that four of the five players Arteta named have played for Barcelona in the past. He also came up against Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldo as an opponent during his playing days.

Arteta and Messi were also on Barcelona's books from 2000 to 20002 until Arteta's move to Rangers. The two, however, never got to play on the same pitch together in a competitive game.

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Mikel Arteta expands five-a-side team to include a goalkeeper alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Mikel Arteta's five-a-side team lacked a defender or even a midfielder known for their defensive workrate.

More notably, it didn't have a goalkeeper to guard the net. The team is evidently focused on attack, with superstars such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but the former Everton and Arsenal midfielder then expanded it to include a goalkeeper.

The Spaniard included his former teammate Pepe Reina in goal, saying, via the aforementioned source:

"No defenders! We don’t have goalkeepers, it’s five-a-side. No goalies. If it’s six-a-side then I have to go for a friend, Pepe Reina. I’ve played with him since I was 16 years old in Barcelona and now, last week, he became the Spanish player with the most European caps in our history."

Reina and Arteta played several games together in youth teams at both club and international levels. They also faced each other 15 times, most notably when Reina was at Liverpool while Arteta played for Everton.