Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United in action during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United at Old Trafford
Manchester United legend Gary Neville has named Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest player of all time with the ex-Red Devils skipper giving his former Old Trafford teammate the edge over rival Lionel Messi. The former United defender was quick to praise the Portuguese as the best ever to play the sport.
On Saturday, Ronaldo marked his return to United, scoring twice in United's 4-1 victory over Newcastle in the Premier League tie. This was Ronaldo's first appearance for the club in 12 years. With the brace, Ronaldo (36y 218 days) became the oldest player to net twice in a Premier League match since Graham Alexander for Burnley against Hull in April 2010 (38y 182d).
"Look, there's no doubt that Messi's scored an obscene amount of goals," Neville told Sky Sports on Monday. "[But] Ronaldo's scored probably 30 or 40 per cent more with his wrong foot and he's scored more penalties. So it just took me to a point where he was more complete in terms of the most important part of the game. "The thing that tips it over the edge, even more, is that international record, of the most international goals ever. The fact that he's won five Champions Leagues with teams that aren't even as good as Messi's team..."
"Messi's won more league titles with that Barcelona team, but I just feel that the international goal record and the Champions Leagues, aligned with the variety of goals that he scores, even though they're very similar [in overall numbers], takes me to think that he is the greatest player of all time."
Manchester United will start their Champions League campaign against Young Boys, while PSG will kick off their campaign against Club Brugge.
