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Former Barcelona star Kevin-Prince Boateng shed light on his short stint with the Catalan club and lavished praise on Argentine talisman Lionel Messi. The Ghanaian midfielder, who has played for several clubs across the continent, is currently on the books of Serie B outfit Monza.
Speaking to DAZN via Goal, the 33-year-old admitted that while he always thought Cristiano Ronaldo was the better player, training with Lionel Messi left him lost for words.
"The six months at Barcelona were incredible. At first, I didn't believe it. I thought it was Espanyol who wanted me, not the real Barcelona!"
"Training with Messi left me speechless. I had always said that Cristiano Ronaldo was the best in the world, but Messi is something else. He's not normal."
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"While training with him, I felt inadequate for the first time in my career. He was doing incredible things. I felt like saying, 'I'm done, I'm going to quit playing!"
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to meet in the UCL group stages for the first time
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the greatest footballers of the modern era and have shown no signs of slowing down despite entering their 30s. The pair have won 11 Ballon d'Or awards between them and have pushed each other no to greater heights since bursting onto the scene in the early 2000s.
While Boateng was teammates with Lionel Messi after his surprise switch to Barcelona, he never shared the dressing room with Cristiano Ronaldo despite playing for several clubs across Europe's top-five leagues.
Juventus and Barcelona have been drawn in the same UEFA Champions League group, meaning Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are set to lock horns in the competition next month at the Camp Nou. The reverse fixture in Turin ended in a 2-0 victor for the Catalans, but Ronaldo was unavailable after testing positive for COVID-19.
Boateng's assessment of the two legendary players is an interesting one to say the least. Several players and managers have chosen between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the past, but only time will tell which one of them retires as the greatest footballer of all time.
