"It's as simple as that" - When Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs gave honest answer to Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo question

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs picked Lionel Messi over his former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo in the GOAT debate back in 2019. Messi and Ronaldo are widely regarded as two of the greatest players of all time.

Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo shared the pitch together at Manchester United between 2003 and 2009. Meanwhile, the Welshman shared the pitch with Lionel Messi as an adversary while the Argentine icon was still plying his trade at Barcelona. Notably, most of their encounters came in the UEFA Champions League. In Giggs and Ronaldo’s last time together against Messi, they suffered a 2-0 defet to Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final.

Ronaldo left United in the summer of that year, while Giggs would face Messi again in the 2011 UCL final - once more ending up on the losing side. In an interview with DAZN, Giggs explained that while he admired Ronaldo due to their time as teammates, Messi was simply in a class of his own. He said (via The Sun):

"Obviously I lean towards Ronaldo a little bit because I played with him and saw him develop as a player. But Messi is a genius, he's a once-in-a-lifetime player. It's as simple as that."

While Giggs has since retired, both Messi and Ronaldo have continued their careers outside Europe despite being in the twilight of their playing days.

“He makes it so easy” – When Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney settled the Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo debate

Back in 2020, Wayne Rooney weighed in on the enduring debate on who the better player is between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Like Giggs, Rooney sided with Messi over his former Manchester United strike partner. The Red Devils all-time top scorer was on the receiving end of Messi’s brilliance in both the 2009 ad 2011 UCL finals.

Writing in his Sunday Times column (via beIN Sports), Rooney said:

"Ronaldo wasn't as focused on goals when we started playing together but you could see that all he wanted was to be the best player in the world. He practised and practised and began to produce. Cristiano has become an incredible scorer and he and Messi are arguably the best two players the game has seen. "But despite my friendship with Cristiano, I'd go for Messi. It's for the same reason I loved watching Xavi and [Paul] Scholes: it's the different things in Messi's game. I've talked about composure and I can't remember seeing Messi score when he has hit the ball as hard as he could. He just rolls them in, makes it so easy. "Ronaldo is ruthless in the box, a killer. But Messi will torture you before he kills you. With Messi you just get the impression he is having more fun. Those two have completely changed the game in terms of goalscoring numbers and I don't think they'll ever be matched."

To date, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two most decorated players in Ballon d’Or history. The former has won it eight times, while the latter has claimed it five times.

Edited by Ezekiel Olamide