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In typical fashion, AC Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic snubbed both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi when asked about the greatest club footballer of all time.
Now 39, Ibrahimovic is still scoring regular goals during his third season with AC Milan. He has scored six goals and made two assists for the Rossoneri in 12 appearances this season.
The Swedish international has been a bit of a traveler over his trophy-laden career, although his first Champions League title still eludes him. Over the years, Ibrahimovic has scored 465 goals and has 167 assists in 754 overall appearances for nine different clubs.
When asked to choose his best of all time, Ibrahimovic snubbed both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He chose former teammate at Inter Milan, the legendary Brazilian Ronaldo Nazario, as his best of all time. However, this was after he claimed that Lionel Messi had the edge over Cristiano Ronaldo. He said:
"Both very strong. I say Messi also because we played together. Ronaldo the Phenomenon. As a child I imitated him."
Despite Zlatan’s claims, there is little doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the best club footballers of all time
Zlatan’s argument that Ronaldo was the best player he ever saw has been supported by quite a few other personalities as well. However, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have a much stronger claim. This is simply because the two have managed to maintain superhuman levels for more than a decade.
Between them, the two superstars have scored more than 1100 club goals. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 800th, and 801st goal in Manchester United's recent 3-2 win over Arsenal at the age of 36. Lionel Messi is also closing in on 800 career goals and arguably brings more to the game than his Portuguese counterpart.
His overall passing skills and ability to beat players has never been seen before in football. Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, is probably the best ever goal-scorer. He has managed to maintain a superhuman level of scoring regardless of the team or the country he has played in.
There may have been players who have in the past managed to produce a handful of seasons at the same or even better levels than the duo. However, when the question about the greatest of all time is asked, longevity and the ability to keep producing year after year must also be considered. When it is, there is nobody who compares with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
