"It's not normal": He played against both and he settled the Messi-Ronaldo debate
The duel between the Argentine and the Portuguese is one of the biggest in history, but who's better? This former Premier League defender gives his take
Football has many debates that will probably never end: Puskas or Di Stefano, Pele or Maradona or even now Mbappe or Haaland. But perhaps the biggest of them all is that between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The two stars dominated the last two decades and are still going strong now, but splitting them has always been a matter of opinion. Former Premier League centreback Toby Alderweireld knows who he's backing.
Toby Alderweireld is back in European football with Royal Antwerp in his native Belgium after spending a season in Qatar with Al-Duhail SC
Having faced both superstars on multiple occasions, including in the Copa del Rey, La Liga, and the Champions League, the former Belgium international knows what he's talking about. In the 11 occasions throughout his career that he has faced either Messi or Ronaldo, he has only ever won one game. This puts Alderweireld in a good position to decide which of the two attackers is the best, and he recently discussed who he thinks is the better of the two.
"Messi", said the former Tottenham man without hesitation. "I usually read the play on the field and often I succeed. But Messi... oh. One night at Wembley when we lost 4-2 against Barcelona, he was unprecedented... really unprecedented. You can't get a grip on him", explained Alderweireld.
"Everything he does, he does it just that little faster than you. He does this, then he does that, it goes so fast. I really had a feeling I couldn't do anything against him. You try to get in duels with him", added the Belgium defender, who started for Tottenham at the Champions League final in 2019. "He looks like a slender guy so you try to get physical. But he's not slender at all, if you look at his thighs you think... wow. He is so fast. The quality, the ball control, it's not normal".
Despite their many battles, Alderweireld admires Messi
Toby Alderweireld admits that Ronaldo is a very effective attacker, but insists when it comes to dealing with them, Messi is the trickiest:"I played against Ronaldo many times. Of course, his numbers don't lie, but Messi was the best, because he is simply elusive. You can't get hold of him".
Continue reading: He was supposed to be Haaland's rival and he's struggling: "We are calm"
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