Ronaldo is just as good as Messi, insist Real teammates

Real Madrid’s Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo is just as good as Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and he will prove it when the two sides clash this weekend, his teammates insisted Thursday.

“These are the two best players in the world and it’s going to be a good match. Messi is a really good player, he destabilizes, but we have Ronaldo who is just as good,” Real’s Brazilian defender Marcelo told sports daily Marca.

The confrontation between the two players is highly anticipated after Messi scored all four goals during Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Arsenal on Tuesday which took the Catalan side into the Champions League semi-finals.

The 22-year-old’s first ever four goal haul won him superlatives from all sides, with Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger calling him “the best player in the world, and by a distance.”

“The two players are decisive and we expect that Cristiano will have the edge,” Real’s Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain, the club’s top scorer this season in La Liga with 24 goals, told sports daily AS.

The two previous winners of the prestigious Ballon D’Or award — Messi in 2009 and Ronaldo in 2008 — have been key to their side’s wins in recent matches and are in the race to win the European Footballer of the Year award again this year.

“The two can win matches in just one phase of the game. Ronaldo is at the same level, if not better, than Messi,” Real Madrid midfielder Jose Maria Gutierrez ‘Guti’ said at a post-training press conference on Wednesday.

“He’s Barca’s most important player but if you ask (Barcelona coach Pep) Guardiola about Cristiano Ronaldo, I am sure he will tell you the same. We need to have a strategy that is anti-Barca not only anti-Messi,” he added.

Messi is the top scorer in the Spanish league with 26 goals while 25-year-old Ronaldo is La Liga’s fourth most prolific scorer with 18 goals.

Real are on top of the standings on goal difference from European and Spanish champions Barcelona with eight games remaining after beating Racing Santander 2-0 on Sunday, their 12the successive La Liga win.