Beckham: Ronaldo Not At Messi's Level
20 April, 2020
Although Cristiano Ronaldo took over David Beckham's iconic shirt number at Manchester United, the Englishman has insisted the Portuguese superstar isn't on Lionel Messi's level.
Beckham left United in 2003, with a young Ronaldo joining the club in the same window. The latter later followed the Englishman to Real Madrid, where the Portuguese and Messi rivalled one another for domestic and individual titles together with goalscoring records.
Beckham, though, has now insisted that Ronaldo isn't on a single level as the FC Barcelona captain, despite the fact that he is the only player who comes near to him.
"Messi is exclusive as a new player and there is not anybody else like him," Beckham told Argentine broadcaster Telam, as cited by AS.
"Both he and Cristiano, who's not at the same level as Messi, are head and shoulders that beats all others."
Beckham himself faced Messi with Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League in the 2012/13 campaign.
"We were ahead, and he came on and Barcelona scored. Despite my age, I enjoyed playing and the team played well in both legs," he added.
"We did things that people can be proud of. They didn't beat us."
Both legs of the quarter-final tie ended in a draw, but Barcelona progressed to the semi-finals on away goals. However, their road ended there when they were thumped 7-0 on aggregate by eventual winners Bayern Munich.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za