What winning stat? Heās a goalscorer, do you think Gerd Muller was a better player than Maradona? Is Miroslav Klose the best player to ever play in the World Cup?
Ronaldinho joined a Barca team who were rebuilding and completed dominated Zidane and the Galacticos at Real Madrid and he completely lit up the league. He didnāt have the longevity to be considered an all time great but he was most certainly a better player than Zidane based on their respective time in Spain.
Zidane was also seen as a bottler by Juventus fans who didnāt show up for them in big games. There is no doubting that Zidane was a great player but his reputation seems to be build on his international career and the volley v Leverkusen.
If given a choice between both players in their pomp I would hands down take Ronaldinho. He was spectacularly good when he wanted to be.
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Fiorentina and Argentina legend Gabriel Batistuta says Lionel Messi isnāt on the same level as Diego Maradona and āprobably never will beā.
The Barcelona superstar is seen as perhaps the best attacking player ever to play the game, with many citing El Diego and PelƩ as his only competition in that regard.
La Pulga is the Argentine national teamās all-time top goalscorer, but the man he took the record from doesnāt think heās the best Argentinian player of all time.
āDiego was the best ever,ā Batistuta told Corriere dello Sport.
āDiego also represented Argentinians in many things, not just football. He has charisma, talent and rare invention.
āMessi, even if heās technically as good - or maybe even better - canāt surpass him. Lionel doesnāt have Maradonaās charisma.
āDiego could command a stadium, everyone watched him. I played with him, and I can tell you how technically decisive he was for the team.
āMaradona is poetry, Messi is prose.
āWhat Messi lacks compared to Maradona is this fantastic, almost dreamlike dimension. Even if he trains every hour of the day he canāt reach that state, because itās not something that is only down to him.
āThere were doubts about Messi in the past, in one way or another, but now thereās no longer a debate. Technically, heās perfect; heās scored more goals than anyone.
āBut for me heās not Diego, and he probably never will be.ā
Batistuta on the money.
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The winning stats of the teams he has played on. Ronaldo has elevated all teams he has played on to a level beyond their individual parts. Messi, for all his greatness, has been surrounded by a much stronger set of supporting players all his career at Barca and Argentina.
But this argument is lost on you as you think Benzema is a better player than Suarez and Neymar combined, and Toni Kroos is better than Iniesta.
I never said Benzema was better than Suarez. Benzema however sacrifices his own game to get the best out of Ronaldo. The reason Benzema is still at Real Madrid is because Ronaldo wants him there.
Letās go through the two teams since 2013. Keepers similar. Dani Alves is better than Carvajal but Carvajal is better than Roberto. Ramos and Varane/Pepe is better than Pique and Umtiti/Mascherano. Marcelo better than Alba. Busquets is technically better than Casemiro but Casemiro is much quicker and a better athlete. Modric and Kroos is way better than Rakitic and the Iniesta of the last 4 years. Then you have the front threes. Barcelonaās front three probably better individually over that time. Real Madrid are better in most positions over that timeframe.
Portugal won the Euros without Ronaldo. His performances in international tournaments gave generally been fairly average and Pepe was clearly their best player in the last Euros.
Benzema is a fucking striker, his main role is to score goals, something he is very unreliable at. There is no comparison between the front three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez and anything Real Madrid have had over that period.
In your analysis you left out the most important Barca player, who destroys your argument and makes mine. Xavi was the key to Barcaās success (and Spainās), itās not a coincidence that Barca have declined since his departure. Without Xavi, Messi can be shut down against the top teams, and has been in most critical knock out games since Xavi left. Just as he has been shut down at international level, Chile X2 and Germany in 2014.
Itās not Ronsldoās winning record. Itās the teamās winning record, you ham.
He sacrifices himself for Ronaldo and Ronaldo loves playing with him. Once again, you simplify everything into goals.
Thatās probably because he hasnāt been a starter for Barcelona during the timeframe you and only you decided on you gobshite
Again you think a player is shut down unless he scores a goal
Youāre falling into the hole you dug for yourself here.
Great players elevate their team to a higher level and through their leadership drive them on and inspire to win big games (like Ronaldo inspiring his Portuguese teammates from the sideline in the Euros). Thatās the essential difference between Maradona and Messi, one was a leader and an inspiration to his teammates, the other isnāt. Messi is despised by half his Argentinian teammates ffs, is that the trait of a leader? Maradona was adored by his teammates, they would have died for him on the field.
You simply donāt get the concept of leadership and how could you in fairness.
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Youāre talking absolute tripe.
Xavi played in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. Barcaās decline can be tracked precisely to Xaviās absence after the 2014-15 season.
Earth to Tipp moronā¦ goals win games. Messi had several opportunities to score in the WC 2014 final, one a simple enough chance, and he fluffed his lines. Itās something he has done actually in all finals for Argentina.
Maradona didnāt choke in finals.
You know Iām right.
Xavi was a sub for the 2015 Champions League campaign that they won
Not true. He missed one chance that was by no means a sitter
I see you arenāt mentioning Ronaldo anymore
Have you trouble with Math like the Cork clown? I said Xavi left after the 2014-15 season, that would be after the CL final.
Watch the game again.
You have stated Messi > Maradona, which exposes you as an idiot.
You said he was their key player and it went down when he left. Was he their key player when they won the Champions League in 2014/15. No he clearly wasnāt
I have stated Messi being better than Maradona because I believe the standard of play back then to be relatively poor. If Maradona played now he couldnāt be addicted to cocaine and be the best player in the world
Look who Iām up against ffs, two of the three stooges.
He was addicted to cocaine and was the best player in the world, imagine how good he would have been clean.
The argument that the standard was relatively poor back then is an evidence free one, different yes, no way was it poor. Far more physical alright, Messi wouldnāt have survived in it, Ronaldo would because of his superior physique. Itās even doubtful Messi would have survived in the EPL for six seasons.
Is that the same Messi that dominates the best Premier League teams every time he plays them?