CRISTIANO RONALDO and Lionel Messi are the best footballers on the planet.
And they have played alongside plenty of other world class talent during their glittering careers.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have played with some of the finest players of the modern era
Ronaldo, 35, has played for two of the world’s biggest clubs in Real Madrid and Manchester United and is still banging goals in at Italian giants Juventus.
But Messi, 33, has been at Barcelona since he was 13 and has won countless trophies and scored hundreds of barely believable goals in that time.
SunSport has collated a best XI of players the pair have played alongside for club and country.
But it was an impossible task so an alternative XI had to be produced.
Ronaldo played with the best of the bunch when it came to goalies with Gianluigi Buffon at Juve, Edwin van der Sar at United and Iker Casillas at Real.
Right-back was a no-brainer with world-class Dani Alves a shoe-in after revolutionising the position as part of the greatest club side of all time alongside Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi at Barca.
Gary Neville made the alternate XI. Just.
Ronaldo companions won the day at centre-back with Real captain Sergio Ramos and Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand coming up trumps.
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You could make another three teams of icons the superstars have played with
Nemanja Vidic and Gerard Pique slotted in together in the backup XI with Javier Mascherano and Carlos Puyol unlucky to miss out.
It was a toss-up between Jordi Alba and Marcelo at left-back with both producing world class performances for Barca and Real for years.
Xavi and Iniesta are joined by United icon Paul Scholes in the middle. Obviously.
And Messi’s former partners Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho play off recently retired goal machine Wayne Rooney up front.
The alternate line-up sees United long-termer Ryan Giggs on the left of a four man midfield with Ronaldo’s Portugal team-mate Luis Figo on the other flank.
Midfield maestros Luka Modric and Sergio Busquets slot in the middle behind two of Ronaldo’s former strike partners Karim Benzema and Carlos Tevez in attack.
In a display of the class of player the duo have featured alongside, Neymar, Luiz Suarez and Sergio Aguero are just some of the strikers who fail to make it into either team.
For more than a decade, fans have bickered in pubs, parks and playgrounds about who is better – Ronaldo or Messi.
And last year SunSport collated quotes from 12 stars who have played with BOTH including Tevez and Pique.
The world will never decide who is better
Watch Cristiano Ronaldo fume at being subbed as Pirlo says ‘there’s no contract clause that says he can’t be taken off’
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
