Recently, Spanish legendary centre-back Gerard Piqué, who previously played for Barcelona and Manchester United, gave an interview on a program. During the interview, he discussed the most talked-about topic in football—the comparison between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
You moved from Barcelona to Manchester United and then returned to Barcelona. Have you ever thought to yourself, if I had stayed at Manchester United, do you think with you in the defense, they would have won more trophies?
I don't believe individuals can decide everything, at least not in football, where there are so many players on the field. In the 1980s, Diego Maradona could single-handedly win the Serie A title for Napoli, but with the way football is played now, I don't think a single moment, or just one player, can determine whether a team wins trophies. You really need a team working together, with a good atmosphere in the dressing room, where everyone pulls together for the same goal. I don't think for a second that just because I was on one team instead of another, I could have made that team win trophies. It's not like that. But it's true that if I had stayed at Manchester United and not joined Barcelona at that time, I wouldn't have become one of the best players in the world, because I achieved my dream of playing for Barcelona, and during an era with Messi, Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o, Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta, and Carles Puyol. I think we had the best team in the world, and we proved that for several years at least by winning different Champions Leagues, league titles, and more. So, I felt like a lucky guy to have had that opportunity to join Barcelona at that time.
Who is the greatest football player of all time, Messi or Ronaldo?
For me, it's undoubtedly Messi. The level of talent he has—I've never seen any other player like that. It's true that Ronaldo is a machine; he trained like crazy in the gym, and I think he prepared himself better than anyone else when it comes to work ethic, but Messi's talent level was just insane. So I'll put Messi above Cristiano, even though both of them are the two best players in the history of the sport for me, and I had the chance to be their teammate. After all, I played with Ronaldo at Manchester United and then with Messi at Barcelona, and they both won trophies. Obviously, we won that Champions League in Moscow, and Ronaldo, remember, he scored the goal—he was the key player, just like Messi was at Barcelona. So yes, I had the chance to play with both of them, and they are both the best players in the history of this sport, but Messi, I think he is a cut above Ronaldo.
I always like to ask people who have had the chance to play at the highest level, those who have actually seen both of them perform on the field, so I'm curious what your answer would be.
They are both forwards, both goal scorers, and obviously they have scored a lot of goals, but their playing styles are really different, depending on what you value more. If you value hard work and goals, Ronaldo is obviously excellent in that regard. If you look at talent itself, like the ability to play football or what you can do on a football pitch, then for me... it's complicated, yes.
For football now, it's becoming more and more youth-oriented, and we're focusing on younger talents. In your opinion, at the youth level, who showed greater potential—Ronaldo or Messi?
For me, it was Messi. In fact, I started playing with him when we were about 13 years old. I thought that guy was just crazy—we won every single game, 15-0, 20-0, and that guy scored so many goals in every match. The biggest problem was that back then, he was very small, extremely small... but he was strong, really strong.
Small stature, low center of gravity.
Yes, exactly. When he arrived at Barcelona, after about three games, I think someone tackled him and he broke his foot. So there was a big question: would he be able to replicate everything he did in the youth academy at the top level of professional football? That was a major concern because if he could reproduce what he did, he would certainly change the history of this sport, and as it turns out, he definitely did. Ronaldo was different; he was very strong, technically good at that time, and he played as a winger, not a striker. But throughout his career, he was able to understand that the position where he could have the greatest impact on the game was as a striker, scoring as many goals as possible for the team. So he changed his position—he started as a winger at Manchester United but later became the best striker in the world because, as I said before, he was very versatile and could score in any situation. So when you're very young, it's hard to predict if you'll become as great a player as Messi or Ronaldo, because the transition from the youth academy to the first team, to the professional level, that leap is extremely difficult.
What do you think the impact was on Messi, as a young player, having someone like Ronaldinho in the first team?
It definitely helped. If you have someone like Ronaldinho in your team who can help you develop your talent and become a better player, that's much better than entering a dressing room where... I don't know, legends don't care about you and try to destroy you.
To some extent.
That can happen, and it happened more in the past, even more seriously. I remember when I started entering the first team at 17, the dressing room was completely different from now. You couldn't use mobile phones—for example, if you used a mobile phone, they would kill you. Now you go into the dressing room, and there's 17-year-old Lamine Yamal dancing in TikTok groups. The dressing room has changed, and that's okay, that's just how it is. Like we were saying before about the evolution of sports and how these young people consume differently now, they behave differently too. Clubs and franchises have to adapt to this. Because if you don't adapt, in the end, if you swim against the current and go against what everyone else is doing, I believe you won't be able to compete and perform, because you need to keep the young players happy. Obviously, you need them to perform, but at the same time, you have to make them feel comfortable in the dressing room they're in. Otherwise, they won't perform as you expect them to.
