Lionel Messi news: Sir Alex Ferguson explains why Barcelona star is a better player than Diego Maradona

What's the story?

One of the greatest manager of his generation Sir Alex Ferguson has given his opinion on one of the greatest debates of all time and voted Lionel Messi as the superior player between him and Argentinean World Cup winning legend Diego Maradona, in an interview with Jonathan Northcroft on The Sunday Times.

Speaking to the respected Scottish sports journalist, Ferguson also gave a reason as to why the 5-time Ballon d'Or is his choice as the better athlete between two of the biggest icons in the history of the sport.

In case you didn't know...

Lionel Messi recently created history to become the first player in LaLiga's 90 year history to score 400 league goals.

Diego Maradona, was the captain of the team that lifted the World Cup for the second time in their history in Mexico in 1986.

Brazil legend Pele had slammed Messi as 'one-skilled' and not as good as Maradona, back in December when the player failed to make it in the Top 3 of Ballon d'Or.

The heart of the matter...

Ferguson's interview with Northcroft, who was one of the co-authors of The Manchester United Opus, revolved mainly around the life and work of one of the greatest sportswriters of his generation Hugh McIlvanney, who passed away on the 24th of January.

During the course of the interview, the manager was asked to pick the better player between Barcelona captain Messi and FIFA Player of the Century Maradona. In replying to this he referred to an argument between Hugh and former Liverpool manager Souness, and said that he sides with Souness in saying that Messi is better.

Jonathan Northcroft writes:

"Something similar happened at a Sunday Times lunch, when with rising intensity Hugh and Graeme Souness debated whether Lionel Messi (Souness’s call) is greater than Diego Maradona (Hugh’s)."

"An exasperated Souness had to finally beseech: “Look, I played against Maradona five times and I’m telling you – Messi.” Hugh growled back: “I don’t care who you played against. It’s Diego.”

Ferguson said:

"Told of this[argument], “I would side with Souness on that one.”

He explained that Maradona was a great player, but he was at the top for only a few years and as we know Messi has been a top player for more than a decade now.

He continued:

“Maradona’s career at the very top was only a few years."

What's next?

Messi, who is leading the race for the European Golden Boot at the moment will be looking to extend his lead at the top by scoring again in Barcelona's LaLiga fixture against Girona tonight.

Also see : Women's World Cup, Womens World Cup Bracket, Womens World Cup Standings