Messi is the GOAT, not rude Ronaldo – Dani Alves

FT Desk

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
• 3 min read

Dani Alves has no doubts that former teammate Lionel Messi is a greater player than long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo, describing the Argentine as “in another world”.

One of the biggest debates over the past decade or so has been whether or not Messi or Ronaldo is the greatest footballer of all time, or ‘The GOAT’.

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This rivalry and debate was formed while Messi was at Barcelona and Ronaldo at Real Madrid, during a time period in which these were the best players and club teams on the planet.

Dani Alves, now playing for Mexican side UNAM Pumas, was a teammate of Messi during Barca’s golden age and he has no doubts who the better player was.

What did Dani Alves say?

"There came a time because of the rivalry that I would go over to greet him [Ronaldo] and he wouldn't greet me,” Dani Alves said on a podcast with Pumas team-mate Efrain Valverde.

"There was a controversy that never came out, but in the dressing room of the Ballon d'Or ceremony we had a fracas, I greeted everyone and he didn't greet me because of what the Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry was generating outside.

"He [Messi] was born with the talent to play football and to be in another world that only he can reach," he said.

Messi and Ronaldo have both since left La Liga. The former is now plying his trade with PSG after leaving Camp Nou on a free transfer in the summer of 2021.

The Portuguese, meanwhile, moved to Juventus in 2018 before returning to Man Utd a year ago. The 37-year-old issued a transfer request this summer and could still leave in January.

Both players see their contracts at their current clubs expire at the end of the season, although both have the option to extend for another year.