A Lionel Messi hat-trick and Neymar’s late solo dribble helped Barcelona to a Champions League victory over Manchester City, but they had Claudio Bravo to thank for a ridiculous second half error.
Manchester City started well, dominating the ball and keeping Barcelona at arms length, until an unfortunate Fernandinho slip up allowed Messi in.
The Argentine No 10 skipped around former team-mate Bravo and rolled the ball home to get Barcelona off to what was an undeserved lead.
Barcelona began to grow into the game but were hampered by injuries to Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique, replaced by Lucas Digne and Jeremy Mathieu respectively.
The debate between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi has gone on endlessly and Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan answered a fan on his twitter account when he was asked who was better.
Gundogan has played with neither of them, but his Manchester City side did get the better of Barcelona in the Champions League group stage this year. While Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Champions League trophy 3 times in his career, the Argentine maestro has won it 4 times.
The German midfielder’s tweet shows that he thinks Messi is better than the Real Madrid superstar.
The debate between Messi and Ronaldo has shown no signs of slowing down. The two of them have shared the last 9 Ballon d’Or awards between themselves with Cristiano Ronaldo claiming his 4th Ballon d’Or trophy in 2016.
Many footballers have weighed in on the debate as to who is better and fans are always eager to know a top midfielder’s perspective on the two great footballers.
Ronaldo and Messi are both at the peak of their careers. While the Portuguese superstar had a stunning 2016, guiding Real Madrid to the Champions League title and inspiring Portugal to the Euro 2016 championship, Lionel Messi also was at his usual best finishing as the top scorer in 2016.
Choosing between the two is almost impossible and rather than based on ability, the choice is usually made on personal preference. Gundogan’s answer shows that he prefers the Argentine maestro over the Portuguese superstar.
Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will look to continue dominating world football. While Ronaldo has endured somewhat of a goalscoring drought, he has still put in important performances for the team. Lionel Messi, on the other hand, started off 2017 in blistering fashion, but after a woeful performance against PSG in the Champions League, the Argentine maestro will be desperate to answer his critics in the best way possible.
Extra Cover: Records & Achievements of Messi vs Ronaldo
Gundogan has been out with an ACL injury since December 21st and he will be hoping to make a comeback before the end of the season.
A number of players, pundits and fans have weighed in on this debate and there is almost always no clear majority as to who is better. Instead of indulging in constant comparison between the two legends, it will be better if we all take a backseat and enjoy the fact that we live in the same era as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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