How Lionel Messi is 'inferior' to Cristiano Ronaldo - Alexander Hleb makes huge claim
Posted Saturday, April 14, 2018 by Express.co.uk
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will go head-to-head when Real Madrid face Barcelona in May
REAL MADRID star Cristiano Ronaldo is a better leader than Lionel Messi.
That’s the verdict of the Argentine's former Barcelona team-mate Alexander Hleb, who’s spoken out in the wake of this weekend’s round of Champions League fixtures.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have battled it out in La Liga since 2009 and they have each won five Ballon d’Or awards during their careers.
The duo will be gunning for the prestigious prize once again this year and their hopes of securing success will be shaped partly by their achievements at club level.
Real have struggled domestically this season but have surpassed Barcelona in the Champions League, in which they’ll face Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.
Ronaldo inspired Real to knock Juventus out at the quarter-finals stage on Wednesday night, 24 hours after Messi had seen Roma crash out against Roma.
Hleb has now had his say on the duo when asked if Real being on course to win the Champions League for a third time in a row means Ronaldo is better than Messi.
"Ronaldo is still not number one," Hleb told Russian outlet Sport Express.
"But as a leader Cristiano is really stronger than Messi. This is confirmed by facts and more than once.
"For me, Messi as a player is more talented. But as the leader of the team, he is inferior to Ronaldo.
"In difficult moments, the Portuguese clearly shows himself brighter.
"Real generally act as a single mechanism, with such a selection of players they are calmly, confidently going to their goal."
Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will go head-to-head when Real face Barcelona in yet another hotly-anticipated El Clasico clash in May.
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