Barcelona legend Lionel Messi voted SECOND in top 30 players of all time in fans poll, despite breaking records

LIONEL MESSI may be Barcelona’s highest ever goalscorer, but he has missed out in one fan poll naming the club’s greatest player of all-time.

In a ballot from fan poll site Ranker, the Argentina World Cup winner and now-PSG star, 35, managed to only come second best with a famous compatriot winning out.

Diego Maradona edged Messi when supporters were asked to rank the LaLiga giants’ best and brightest.

Several big names were forced to settle on a place outside of the top ten, from 1940s and 50s legend Cesar Rodriguez to Rivaldo and Neymar.

Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique squeezed into the top ten behind recent heroes Ronaldo, Carles Puyol and Xavi.

The top five is hard to dispute even if the order can be debated.

Andres Iniesta, the most decorated Spanish footballer of all time with 35 trophies to his name, was fifth behind Johan Cruyff.

The Dutch maestro is arguably remembered for his time as coach at the Camp Nou as much as for his mighty playing record, with two Ballon d’Or awards arriving while a midfield focal point for the Blaugrana and four LaLiga titles won from the dugout.

It is perhaps a surprise to see Cruyff come in behind Ronaldinho, who dazzled with his sensational skills during five years in Catalunya but won only two league titles and a Champions League.

Edging out Barcelona’s record scorer and highest appearance maker Messi is Maradona.

The club forked over a world record transfer fee to secure the forward from Boca Juniors.

But injuries meant Maradona left two years later with just a Copa del Rey to his name, before going on to become a global superstar with Napoli and Argentina, winning the 1986 World Cup in the process – a trophy Messi claimed in Qatar before Christmas.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk