Frank Lampard admitted that he ‘feels bad’ for leaving Manchester United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo out of his two toughest opponents in his illustrious playing career.
The 43-year-old Chelsea legend watched Ronaldo burst onto the scene when Sir Alex Ferguson brought him to Old Trafford in 2003.
Lampard came up against the five-time Ballon d'Or winner in the Champions League final in 2008, which ended with a memorable United win over Chelsea in Moscow.
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The former Chelsea manager believes that he never played against Ronaldo “at his peak” and claimed he reached that point after his move to Real Madrid.
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And Lampard suggested that Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lionel Messi and Brazil legend Ronaldinho would be the two best opponents he played against in his career.
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“There’s two I would say -- one is Lionel Messi, because he’s just the best,” he told the All To Play For podcast.
“And I feel bad with Cristiano, because what Cristiano has done in big games, winning finals and stuff, I think that’s such a tight call.
“But to play against him [Messi], I didn’t play Ronaldo at his peak. Played him at Man United when he was getting towards it, but not at Real Madrid, where he was just ridiculous.
“I didn’t really come up against him then, but I feel like I did with Messi and I never got near him and he was just amazing.
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“And the other one is Ronaldinho, because in 2005, we went to the Nou Camp, it was my first encounter with a player on a different planet.
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“Him and [Samuel] Eto’o on that day, but particularly Ronaldinho’s movements. I was like, ‘Wow this is different.’”
Lampard lifted three Premier League titles, a Champions League, a Europa League, four FA Cups and two League Cups during his time with Chelsea.
The former England international left Chelsea in 2014 to play for Manchester City and New York City before he retired from football in 2017.
Featured Image Credit: PA/All To Play ForTopics: Frank Lampard, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Ronaldinho, Football