What’s the story?
Michael Carrick is the latest footballer who has weighed in his opinion on the never-ending Messi vs. Ronaldo debate. The Times asked the Manchester United midfielder the question in a recent interview, and he picked Cristiano Ronaldo.
"I couldn't say Messi's better than Ronny. I'd be doing an injustice to Ronny with what I've seen him do for us at close quarters, working so hard in training, and his mentality in games to get kicked like mad, get up, go again, get kicked, go again, be so hungry to score." said the veteran midfielder.
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Even though he picked Cristiano over Messi, the United star was quick to heap praise on the Argentine forward as well. 'When we played against Messi, we said, "It's not a one-man job, it's wherever he is on the pitch, you have to take responsibility for him. You can't have someone following him around all the time, it's almost a team job. I'm not sure if I ever tackled him. You'd think you'd got him and he's gone. That was special." said the 35-year-old.
In case you didn’t know...
Carrick has played with Ronaldo at Old Trafford. The duo were tea mates for three seasons at Manchester United before the Portuguese international left for Real Madrid.
The Madrid star is expected to play in the testimonial for Carrick this summer. The match takes place on June 4th and will see a Michael Carrick All-Star team take on members of the Manchester United squad that won the Premier League, and Champions League double in 2008.
On the other hand, the English midfielder has never played with Messi. He has come up against the Argentine on 2 occasions while they played for their respective clubs, and Barcelona ended up winning on both occasions.
The heart of the matter
'Messi vs. Cristiano' debate has been the main talking point among the football fans for nearly a decade now. The never ending debate has no particular conclusion but only gets fed by opinions of footballers based on their personal choice.
This is not the first time Carrick has been asked this question in an interview. The midfielder was asked a similar question by Manchester United's official match programme, United Review in 2016.
The Englishman was asked who he thought was the greatest footballer of all time and he said it was a tough one to pick. However, he went on to say that it probably has to be Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
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Sportskeeda’s Take
Messi or Ronaldo? Let's just say that we are lucky enough to witness the two competing with each other in the same era.
