Former FC Barcelona midfielder Xavi believes Lionel Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo, but the Argentine superstar is not happy with the longstanding debate anymore.
Xavi said that Messi and Ronaldo have their own strengths and weaknesses. But in terms of intelligence on the field, the 36-year-old said that Messi is better than his rival.
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"Messi is the best player in the world," Xavi said in an interview with New Arab as reported by Marca. "In football, there are two important factors: fitness and intelligence. Ronaldo is very fit but Messi has both the fitness and the intelligence, so in short, Messi is better."
But while most fans will agree that Messi is the better player after getting the FIFA Ballon d'Or award earlier this year, the FC Barcelona superstar sounded tired of all the talks on who is the better player. Messi said that he dies not want to be compared to Ronaldo or any other player.
"The press is always looking for comparisons and those kinds of things," Messi told MBC via Goal.com. "The only thing I care about is helping my team and to keep on improving each season. I am not comparing myself to Cristiano Ronaldo or to anyone else. I am only thinking about myself and my team-mates and winning games."
Messi and Ronaldo will cross paths again next week as FC Barcelona and Real Madrid collide in a crucial match. Messi is not thinking of his matchup against Ronaldo. Instead, the 28-year-old is more concerned of leading FC Barcelona to a victory, which will solidify their grip on the top spot in the Spanish La Liga standings.
"Real Madrid have some great players. They have always had some impressive stars and are one of the best teams in the world," Messi said. "They are always a complicated rival for Barcelona. They always make life difficult for us in the race for the Liga title. There is a lot of competition and we always try to do better than them."
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