'Those who say Ronaldo is better than Messi...' - Van Basten feels there's clear winner between the two

In the football fraternity, the comparisons between Portugal captain and Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina's skipper and Paris Saint Germain (PSG)'sstar Lionel Messi keephappening from time to time.

The debate regarding the better footballer between the two superstars also seems to be never-ending. Be it statistics, fitness or overall skills, there's not much seperating the duo. Hence, many remain perpelxed when asked to pick one between Ronaldo and Messi. However, as far as AC Milan legend Marco van Basten is concerned, he feels there is a clear winner among the duo.

"Cristiano is a great player, but those who say he is better than Messi know nothing about football, or they are saying it in bad faith," the 57-year-old said in an interview withCorriere dello Sport. "Messi is one of a kind. Impossible to imitate and impossible to repeat. A player like him comes along every 50 or 100 years. As a kid, he fell into the football genius pot," he opined.

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Further, the 57-year-old Dutchman also revealed his three all-time greatest footballers, which didn't includeRonaldo as well as Messi. "Pele, [Diego] Maradona and [Johan] Cruyff are for me the three greatest players in history," Van Basten toldMarca."As a kid I wanted to be like Cruyff. He was my friend. I miss him. Pele and Maradona were also incredible. Messi is also a great player, but Maradona always had more personality in a team. Messi is not the one who puts himself at the front to go to war. I'm not forgetting Cristiano Ronaldo, [Michel] Platini or [Zinedine] Zidane," he further added.