"It will never happen again" - When La Liga president picked the GOAT between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

La Liga president Javier Tebas was asked in 2024 to choose between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the football GOAT (Greatest of All Time) debate. The two football stars have dominated the game for nearly two decades and have divided opinions over who was better.

However, Javier Tebes seemed confident as he backed Lionel Messi over the former Real Madrid superstar. During an interview with Juan Jose-Buscalia from DSports (via Pulse Sports), Javier Tebas said:

"Lionel and Cristiano are the best two players in history, with Messi as first. Players are very important but not essential for a competition. Trying to repeat it for so long, because Messi and Cristiano have been at the highest level since they were 18, it will never happen again, the stars have aligned."

Messi joined Barca Youth from Newell's Juveniles in 2000, and the rest is history. The Argentine superstar became the all-time top scorer in La Liga, with 474 goals in 520 matches. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009 and became the second-highest goal-scorer in Spanish top-tier football, scoring 311 goals in 292 games.

The Argentine superstar won ten La Liga and four UEFA Champions League titles with Barcelona. However, Ronaldo won two La Liga and four UCL titles with Los Blancos.

When La Liga President claimed that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's departure didn't harm the league

In 2024, La Liga president Javier Tebas claimed that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from the club didn't harm the league's popularity or reputation. He also compared Serie A and Ligue 1 to La Liga, where the two football icons eventually went after leaving Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively.

He said during an interview with A Bola (via the GOAL):

"(Messi and Ronaldo leaving) didn't cause any damage because we didn't shrink, but with them, we would certainly have grown faster. The French league with Messi, Neymar and Mbappe didn't grow, Cristiano Ronaldo went to Italy and the Italian league's international revenues didn't increase, ours did even though we lost them both."

He continued:

"The reason is that, both sponsors and audiovisual media, what they care most about is that the competition is economically sustainable, that seven years later it continues to be very competitive and that in Spain there are always very good players, this year we have the best of the world that is (Jude) Bellingham, last season (Robert) Lewandowski was at a great level, Atletico has (Antoine) Griezmann, if Mbappe comes that will help us to be more competitive and grow even faster"

Javier Tebas stated that La Liga will become more competitive if French forward Kylian Mbappe joins. In the same year, Mbappe joined Real Madrid on a free transfer from PSG.

Lionel Messi left Barcelona in 2021 after the club failed to register him and joined Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus from Real Madrid in the summer of 2018. However, the Portuguese forward currently plays in the Saudi Pro League for Al-Nassr while Messi has joined Inter Miami.