Dimitar Berbatov snubs former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo gives Lionel Messi his world’s greatest vote
The Bulgarian international lifted the Premier League trophy with Ronaldo but admits he thinks Messi is the greatest and chants his name while watching Barcelona
CRISTIANO RONALDO and Lionel Messi were pitted against each other once again this week battling it out for FIFA's World Player of the Year award.
While the Real Madrid ace officially came out on top, his former teammate Dimitar Berbatov believes the Barcelona icon has the edge.
Berbatov has insider knowledge having played alongside Ronaldo and suffering a heartbreaking loss against Messi but in this debate his loyalties lie with his former opponent.
In an interview with ESPN the Bulgarian admitted Ronaldo is "brilliant" but described Messi as the "f*****g greatest."
Berbatov played two seasons with the Portuguese forward at Manchester United during which Ronaldo powered the Red Devils to the Premier League title in 2009.
They then moved on to the Champions League final where Berbatov and United were faced with Barcelona but a decisive Messi was too much for the English club.
Reflecting on the game where Messi scored the second goal in Barcelona's 2-0 win, Berbatov said: "He's the f*****g greatest. 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 Si Stefano.
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"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 handing his vote to Messi, Berbatov still has plenty of love for Ronaldo, admitting he has nothing but admiration for the Real Madrid star who has gone on to win three Champions League trophies since the defeat against Barcelona in 2009.
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He added: "Young players try and imitate the best players like Ronaldo. 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 the best, everything else came after.
"Players shouldn't try and imitate s**t, they should concentrate on themselves and being professional. Ronaldo was fine in our dressing room. He could take a joke and Patrice Evra was doing jokes, but he was serious when he played.
"I was shy, quiet and used to watch all of this."
The majority of international captains and managers however did not agree with Berbatov and crowned Ronaldo as world's greatest for the second straight year and fifth time overall.
The 32-year-old claimed 43.2 percent of the vote while Messi picked up 19.3 percent.
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