Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has snubbed Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi while naming his toughest opponents. The former England international picked Chelsea icon Claude Makelele, Manchester United legend Roy Keane, and Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira as his top three.Speaking to ESPN, Gerrard did not offer any explanation for his picks as it was a quickfire round. The former Aston Villa manager also named the three best midfielders in the world right now, selecting Manchester City's Rodri, Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister, and PSG's Vitinha.In 2024, Gerrard spoke about Messi joining him and Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League, saying he would love to have the Argentine in his squad. The Englishman was the manager of Al-Ettifaq when he said (via beIN Sports):"It would be a dream for me to have Messi at Al-Ettifaq. He is an incredible player and would be a great asset for the club. I know it's difficult for him to move to Saudi Arabia, but there's nothing wrong with dreaming."When asked to pick the best out of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, he said:"Both Cristiano and Messi are incredible players with incredible stories in football. Ronaldo is a great individual goalscorer, while Messi is a more complete team player. I can't really choose between them, they are both legends."Steven Gerrard left his role at Al-Ettifaq in January 2025 after a poor run. He is currently without a club, but was linked with a return to Rangers earlier this summer.Steven Gerrard picks Lionel Messi over Cristiano RonaldoSteven Gerrard picked Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo during an episode of The Overlap. The Liverpool legend said that he always prefers the Argentin, but heaped praise on the Al-Nassr star and said:“Lionel Messi for me. I'm someone who'd not say a derogatory thing about Ronaldo because he's a phenomenon. They're the two in my era that were just...when you're a footballer yourself and you've done it yourself, the numbers are just.. I'm not sure who's going to do that again, I'm not sure that's going to happen again.”Steven Gerrard faced Lionel Messi twice in his career with Liverpool, winning once and losing the other. He has faced Cristiano Ronaldo 13 times for club and country, winning just thrice and losing nine times. All the wins came were during Liverpool vs Manchester United fans, while the two national team meetings were decided via a penalty shootout.