Jamie Carragher Believes Lionel Messi Is The 'Greater Player Of All Time,' Not Cristiano Ronaldo

Jamie Carragher has offered his verdict on the ongoing debate surrounding Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The two five-time Ballon d'Or winners have been in impressive form for their respective clubs this season, both domestically and in the Champions League.

Writing for the Daily Telegraph, Carragher focused on Europe's elite competition and touched on the Barcelona captain and the Juventus ace.

According to the 41-year-old Liverpool legend, Ronaldo is the best goalscorer of all time, but he believes that Messi is the better player out of the two.

"Ronaldo and Messi -- the greatest goalscorer of all time and the greater player of all time -- show no sign of giving up their dominance of European competition, their individual displays in midweek further demonstrating their exceptional skill and motivation levels," he wrote.

"They bring belief to their clubs and fear to opposition. The fact remains unless the English clubs can find a way to stop Ronaldo and Messi, this year's final will be Juventus versus Barcelona."

Ronaldo was instrumental in the Old Lady's progression to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, following his superb hat-trick against Atlético Madrid.

Meanwhile, Messi put on a true captain's performance against Lyon and played his part in Barça's 5-1 thrashing of the Ligue 1 side by scoring twice and assisting twice.

While both Messi and Ronaldo are in fantastic form and their respective teams will be hoping they can fire them into the Champions League final, Carragher does fancy the Premier League sides' chance against the two.

"I believe the English can and will overcome Ronaldo and Messi this season," he explained.

"I believe two English clubs will make it to Madrid and the Premier League will continue to have at least two participants in the semi-finals for the next five years.

"Should Liverpool get past Porto, Barcelona would need to overcome two English clubs to reach the final if they defeat United. That is a tough ask for the Spanish champions.

"City should be too strong for Tottenham [Hotspur], Ajax and Juventus. [Pep] Guardiola may not like references to the quadruple. They will not be going away."

Which two teams will make it to the final of the Champions League?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Football, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Lionel Messi, Juventus, Champions League, Lyon, Jamie Carragher, Cristiano Ronaldo

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

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