Van Basten: ‘Whoever says Cristiano is better than Messi knows nothing about football’

In a controversial speech during an interview with ‘Corriere Dello Sport’, former striker Van Basten said that, in the comparison between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, there is not much to discuss. For him, the Argentine is of a much higher level, despite praising the Portuguese.

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Cristiano is a great player, but anyone who says he’s better than Messi doesn’t know anything about football. Either that or he’s talking in bad faith. Messi is unique. It is impossible to imitate and impossible to repeat. A player like him appears every 50 or 100 years,” said the Dutchman.

Despite this, Van Basten still doesn’t put the shirt number 30 of Paris Saint-Germain with one of the three best players in the history of football. On another occasion, this time to the magazine ‘France Football’, the former athlete stated that his top 3 is formed by Pele, Maradona and Cruyff.

“Pelé, Maradona and Cruyff are, for me, the three greatest players in history. As a child, I wanted to be like Cruyff. He was my friend. Pele and Maradona were also amazing. Messi is also a magnificent player, but Maradona always had more personality in a team”, he said.