Cristiano Ronaldo is still inferior to Lionel Messi according to the Portuguese's former Manchester United teammate Dimitar Berbatov , who has called Messi "the f***ing greatest."
Ronaldo was crowned as the top men's player in the world at the FIFA Best awards in London this week, but he still doesn't match up to Messi according to Berbatov, who played with Ronaldo a United in the 2008/09 season.
At the end of that campaign, Messi scored Barca's second goal in their 2-0 Champions League final victory over United, after which Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid.
And in an interview with ESPN in which he recalled that game, Berbatov was asked why it was Messi who made the difference.
"Because he's the f***ing greatest," he replied.
"Ronaldo is brilliant, Messi more my kind of player. He sees the game so clearly. He can score, create, he's the complete player, the best ever probably.
"If you ask someone older than me they will say Pele, Maradona or Puskas or Di Stefano. But for my generation it's Messi or Ronaldo. They're pretty much even, but something with Messi makes me shout 'Messi! Messi!' when I watch Barcelona on television."
Despite claiming that he prefers the Argentinean, Berbatov was still full of praise for his former teammate and the example that he sets for younger players.
“Young players try and imitate the best players like Ronald," he continued.
"They try to imitate the hair, the clothes, the cars, the tricks. "I try to tell them how hard Cristiano Ronaldo trained in training and after training.
"He only wanted to be the best. Everything else came after.”