It is always a hot topic of discussion among football aficionados regarding the best player between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. German defender Antonio Rudiger gave his two cents on the topic and picked Messi as a better player than Ronaldo.

The former Chelsea center-back stated that if the Argentine is in a good mood or is having a good day you can not stop him in his strides. Messi and Ronaldo are both regarded as the two best players of the current era and have dominated the game in the last two decades.

Rudiger had earlier said while talking to Sky Sports in 2022, “The next two stand out, they are in a different world, they are different quality. When you’re playing against Messi, the feeling you have is that it’s just up to him, if he is in a good mood or is having a good day you cannot stop him.”

He added: “That is my honest opinion. The same applies with Ronaldo. They have two different ways of playing, one to try and score goals and the other is enjoying his football.”

Picking Messi as his choice between the two, the German said, “If I had to pick one, it would be Messi. Is he the best ever? I didn’t see Pele or Diego Maradona playing because that was not my time, so it’s Messi.”

Meanwhile, Ronaldo scored 24 goals and provided three assists in 38 matches across competitions for Manchester United in the previous season whereas Messi scored 11 goals and provided 15 assists for PSG Saint-Germain in Ligue 1.

Both of these players are still going strong and they will look to be at their best at the FIFA World Cup 2022 later in the year for their respective national teams.