Sir Alex Ferguson's Messi/Ronaldo Comparison Resurfaces After Contrasting Starts To The Season

With Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi experiencing contrasting starts to the new season, old comments made by former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson have come to light.

Speaking back in 2015, the legendary coach questioned Messi's ability to reproduce his Barcelona form at another club, whilst simultaneously backing his former player Ronaldo to score at any level.

Both players made high profile moves this summer, with Ronaldo returning to his old club, Manchester United, while Messi opted to sign for French giants PSG after failing to agree a new deal with Barcelona.

Ronaldo has been on fire since moving back to England, with the 36-year-old scoring four goals in three appearances so far for the Red Devils.

By contrast, Messi has struggled to get going at the Parc Des Princes - hence why Ferguson's old comments about the pair are now resurfacing.

The clip of Sir Alex has been shared on social media numerous times since Messi's underwhelming debut for PSG earlier this month.

During a conversation with snooker legend John Parrott, Ferguson claimed that Ronaldo is capable of scoring goals for any team in the world.

"People say who is the best player in the world? And plenty of people quite rightly say Messi - you can't dispute that opinion," Ferguson said in April 2015.

"But Ronaldo could play for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Doncaster Rovers... anyone, and score a hat-trick in a game. [But] I'm not sure Messi could do it."

Some fans responded to the video on Twitter, with one user stating that "Sir Alex is actually the Einstein of football".

"Ronaldo's got two feet, he's quick, great in the air, he's brave - Messi's brave, of course. I think Messi's a Barcelona player," Ferguson added.

Ronaldo v West Ham

While those words have rung true so far, it is still very early in the season - far too early to draw any concrete conclusions about the success that the two legendary players will have at their respective new clubs.

Messi for instance is still expected to win a record-breaking seventh Ballon d'Or later this year, in spite of his slow start to the 2021/22 campaign.

Nevertheless, if Ronaldo does continue to fire United to success, the pressure will surely mount on Messi to respond in kind.

Topics: Paris Saint-Germain, Football, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo

Tom Fenton