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Arsene Wenger Claims Lionel Messi And Cristiano Ronaldo Both 'Need Better Teammates'

Arsene Wenger Claims Lionel Messi And Cristiano Ronaldo Both 'Need Better Teammates'

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi could see early exits from the Champions League after first-leg setbacks with their respective sides.

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz

Legendary former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has argued that both Juventus and Barcelona are overly reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi respectively.

Juventus suffered a 2-1 Champions League defeat to Porto at the Estadio do Dragao on Wednesday in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash.

Ronaldo, 36, experienced a disappointing night as one moment had him collect the loose ball and attempt to launch a counterattack, only for Alex Sandro to not move out of his way.

Messi, much like the Juventus superstar, was on the losing side in the Champions League as Paris Saint-Germain thumped Barcelona 4-1 at the Camp Nou.

The 33-year-old Argentine forward fired Barca into the lead from the spot-kick, but a Kylian Mbappe-inspired hat-trick sealed a successful comeback for the French side.

Messi's future remains uncertain at Barcelona as his contract will expire in the summer and he has been linked with a summer move to PSG.

Wenger, who has been a pundit for beIN SPORTS, said that Juventus have relied too heavily on Ronaldo and it showed the "players around him just aren't good enough."

And the 71-year-old Frenchman argued the same case for Barcelona's current situation with Messi.

"It's a problem that [Juve] are only relying on Ronaldo," Wenger said.

"It's the same for Messi. If the team is overly reliant on Messi, it's because the players around him are not good enough."

Juventus now have four Serie A fixtures to play before they host Porto for the return leg in Turin on 9th March.

Meanwhile, Barcelona's next round of fixtures includes four La Liga matches and their second-leg Copa del Rey semi-final clash with Sevilla.

Ronald Koeman's men will travel to the Parc des Princes on 10th March for their second-leg clash with PSG.

Featured Image Credit: PA/beIN SPORTS

Topics: Football, Barcelona, Serie A, Lionel Messi, Arsene Wenger, Juventus, Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo, La Liga, Italy