While most Real Madrid players tend to back Cristiano Ronaldo in the GOAT debate, there are a few notable exceptions who prefer Lionel Messi.
In most cases, these players stated their admiration for Messi prior to joining Real Madrid, before swiftly changing their tune and becoming Ronaldo fans.
Here are seven examples of current Real Madrid players who have admitted to preferring Messi over Ronaldo.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
During an interview with The Mirror, Alexander-Arnold didn’t hesitate when naming Messi as the greatest player of all time.
“It has to be Messi for me,” he said.
“The best player I’ve played against. The best player that’s ever played the game. To imagine anyone better than what I’ve been able to see, my brain doesn’t comprehend it. There’s no way anyone can be better.
“Lionel Messi is the greatest to ever play this game. There’s just a different feeling playing against him that I’ve never felt with anyone else.
“You’re always on red alert when the ball is near him. It’s very rare for a player to instill that kind of fear into other players. For that reason, I have to say it’s him.
“In many aspects of the game, he’s probably the best at any given moment. He can almost do what he wants on a football pitch.”
Having now signed for Real Madrid, let’s see if Trent changes his tune over the coming years.
Jude Bellingham
While playing for Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham named Messi ahead of Ronaldo when talking about the GOAT debate.
“Messi for me, for sure,” Bellingham said.
“You can just watch him and think like ‘How does he do that?’ Every time I watch him, he just does something that I just think ‘You can’t be human.”
Vinicius Junior
Prior to joining Real Madrid, Vinicius named Messi as the greatest player of all time.
While playing for Flamengo, he was asked to choose between Messi and Ronaldo, to which he responded: “Messi…Messi.”
However, since joining Real Madrid, he’s tended to be more complimentary about Ronaldo.
Luka Modric
The Croatian midfielder spent six years playing alongside Ronaldo at Real Madrid, but still backs Messi in the GOAT debate.
After Argentina knocked Croatia out of the World Cup, Modric openly backed Messi as the greatest of all time.
“I hope he will win this World Cup, he is the best player in history and he deserves it,” Modric said back in 2022.
“He is playing a great World Cup, he shows quality and greatness in every game.”
Antonio Rudiger
The German defender has described Messi as the ‘best ever’ based on his natural talent, although he does hold Ronaldo in similarly high regard.
“Comparing Messi and Ronaldo? I don’t like this discussion,” Rudiger told reporters in 2024.
“I played against Ronaldo and Messi, against Cristiano when he was at Manchester United, and I played against Messi a lot in some important matches between Barcelona and Chelsea.
“For me, Messi is the best ever on the individual level because of his talent.
“Ronaldo, with what he achieved individually and collectively and the numbers he achieved, it would be unfair to put one person above the other. They must be respected. They are in the same position.”
Federico Valverde
As a teenager, Valverde has been quoted as saying: “[Ronaldo and Messi] are the two best players in the world. But I opt for Messi.”
Those comments clearly didn’t go down well in Madrid as he quickly made a U-turn and changed his entire stance.
“I wanted to clarify that and if I had felt a fanaticism for Messi, I would never have signed for Real Madrid, I wanted to clarify that and make it clear that they are the two best players in the world, but I will always be on the side of Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Dani Ceballos
Shortly after joining Real Madrid, Ceballos deleted one of his Tweets, which read: “I would like to have Messi’s autograph.”
From what we can tell, he’s never directly described Messi or Ronaldo as the GOAT, but judging by his old Tweets, we can assume that he’s more of a Messi guy.
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