6th June, 2019
Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player on the planet and he pips Lionel Messi in one key area.
That’s the opinion of Juventus legend Antonio Carbrini, who was reflecting on Ronaldo’s first season at the Allianz Stadium.
Although the Portuguese forward scored less goals than Krzysztof Piatek, Duvan Zapata and Golden Boot winner Fabio Quagliarella this term, he still done enough to win the league’s MVP award.
Despite disappointing exits in the Champions League and Coppa Italia, Ronaldo still helped Juventus win the Scudetto, Juve’s eighth in a row.
When 1982 World Cup winner Carbrini was asked whether Ronaldo is the best player in the world, he listed one key attribute that was crucial to his decision.
“Probably, yes [Ronaldo is the best player in the world],” Carbrini told Express Sport, on behalf of Betfair.
“Obviously the last 10 years in club football has been focused on the rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“My personal opinion is that Ronaldo is better than Messi but mainly in terms of leadership.
“Ronaldo has proved himself to be a real leader a lot of times – and not only on the pitch. He is a leader in his life as well as in sports.”
Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal in Euro 2016, Lionel Messi has not won a trophy for Argentina.
While the Ronaldo versus Messi debate rolls on, the former Manchester United star has got international success against his name having led Portugal to glory at Euro 2016.
Cabrini referenced the fact that the Barcelona captain fell short at the Brazil World Cup in 2014, when Germany beat Argentine 1-0 in extra-time.
“So with all the respect and admiration we have for a player like Messi, there have been a few instances in his career that he came up short,” he added.
“But we are speaking about two great players, I think we can all agree on that.”
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick, including two late goals, to give Portugal a 3-1 win over Switzerland in a Nations League semi-final featuring an extraordinary VAR incident on Wednesday.
The 34-year-old decided to take an extended break from playing for his country in the aftermath of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
He will have a new manager when he returns to Turin with Juventus next season after it was confirmed that Massimiliano Allegri would not be seeing put the final year of his contract.