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Former Atletico Madrid defender Diego Godin has picked Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo as the tougher player to defend against. Godin spent nine years with Atletico between 2010 and 2019, facing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo several times in La Liga and the Champions League.
The central defender was recently asked who, according to him, was tougher to defend against between the two superstars of the modern game. In reply, the Uruguayan named Messi.
He also highlighted how the presence of the Argentine and Ronaldo at Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively stopped the Rojiblancos from winning more La Liga titles and the Champions League as well.
“For me it is more difficult to mark Messi. We are contemporaries. All my time in Europe I had the bad luck of coinciding with both of them. They took several titles from us at Atlético de Madrid. Without Messi at Barcelona or Cristiano at Real Madrid we would have some league safer and maybe some Champions League. We managed to compete with the generation of these monsters,” Godin said on ESPN Uruguay.
Notably, Godin won La Liga once in the 2013/14 season with Atletico, as well as two Europa League titles. Atletico were twice stopped by Real Madrid in the final of the Champions League.
Lionel Messi arguably put an end to GOAT debate with Cristiano Ronaldo following FIFA World Cup triumph
Heading into the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Messi vs Ronaldo debate was still raging. Both Argentina and Portugal had strong teams, capable of going all the way in the tournament.
As it turned out, La Albiceleste went on to win the tournament, defeating defending champions France in the final. Lionel Messi was named the Player of the Tournament for scoring seven goals and providing three assists.
Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, was benched two matches into the competition by Portugal head coach Fernando Santos. He continued to make substitute appearances as Portugal reached the quarterfinals, only to be knocked out by Morocco.
