Van Basten, as strong as in his time as a scorer: “Whoever says that Cristiano is better than Messi knows nothing about football”

Comparisons are inevitable, in almost every area of ​​life, and football is no stranger to him. This ignites the debate on who should be considered the best player of all time.

Having Lionel Messi, seven times Ballon d’Or, author of 769 goals in 974 matches between club and national team and winner of 39 official titles, still active and at a good level, the discussion reopens.

Everyone has an opinion, but in this case it was the one who raised his voice Marco Van Basten, a word more than authorized to speak on the subject. The historic striker, chosen as the best player in the world in 1988, 1989 and 1992, was a multiple champion of Milan and appears in the title of the national team Rinus Michels in the European 88´.

There are those who manage to put Cristiano Ronaldo on that list of legends, especially because he is the all-time top scorer and leader of a three-time European champion Real Madrid.

However, the 57-year-old Dutchman was blunt: “Cristiano is a great player, But whoever says he’s better than Messi doesn’t know anything about football or says it in bad faith. “expressed in an interview with Corriere dello Sport .

Then he added: “Messi is unique. Impossible to imitate and unrepeatable. A player like him it appears every 50 or 100 years. As a child he fell into the pot where football geniuses are formed. “

In any case, not all were praise for Leo, who excluded from the historical top 3: “Messi is a great player, but he’s not the one who steps up to go to war. Maradona has always had more personalities in a team. ”

“Pele, Maradona and Johan Cruyff are the three biggest for me. As a boy I wanted to be like Cruyff. He was my friend and I miss him. Pele and Maradona were also incredible, “he added.

Van Basten joined the famous “Milan of the Dutch”next to Ruud Gullit Y Frank Rijkardwhich also had figures like Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi and also his Carlo Ancelotti. An excellent team that dominated Italian football between the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s, as well as being two-time champions of Europe and the world.

However, in November 1988 those led by Arrigo bags They visited San Paolo, with airs of victory in the previous one as reigning champions, and returned with a 3-0 thanks to the extraordinary performance of the Argentine champion.

Diego’s was sublime throughout his stay in Italy, but it was enough for Van Basten with a single game to realize his full potential and probably influenced his recent statements.