Lionel Messi More Skilful Than Cristiano Ronaldo?

Lionel Messi is a more skillful player than Cristiano Ronaldo, insists Fabio Capello.

The Italian manager, who previously coached at the Bernabeu and is currently in charge of Russia’s national side, made the comments to AS (via Caught Offside).

Capello declared that the diminutive Argentinian is “far more skillful” than his peer, while he also admitted that he once tried to sign Messi when he was manager at Juventus.

“Cristiano is a powerful player, with very good technique, but he does not possess the pure technical skill of Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi are two extraordinary players but they are different. Leo Messi is a very difficult player to play against. When I saw Messi play I knew he was special. I could see that he could do things that didn’t occur to other players.”

Lionel Messi is widely regarded as the most dangerous forward in the history of La Liga. And he just needs two more goals to officially top the all time scoring charts of the Spanish league. It was believed that he might have reached that landmark on Saturday. However, Barcelona succumbed to a shock 1-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo instead.

Joaquin Larrivey scored in the 55th minute, but Luis Enrique’s side had several chances to not only equalize but to also win the encounter. They hit the woodwork on four occasions, with Messi and Neymar both striking it twice. Luis Suarez also had two clear cut chances to score on his home debut but he missed them both.

This now means that Real Madrid are top of La Liga after they demolished Granada by four goals to nil. As usual, Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring for the reigning European Champions before a stunning James Rodriguez volley, Karim Benzema effort and another for Rodriguez completed the rout.

According to Goal, after the match Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti heaped praise on to his side, especially Rodriguez and Ronaldo.

“James scored a fantastic goal and Cristiano Ronaldo gave a fine assist for Karim. It’s getting harder and harder to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo. He is a fantastic player… We always remained focussed, worked hard and made sacrifices. Everything goes fine so long as you keep fighting. We have to keep going and extend our winning streak. We are playing well and keep winning.”

Real Madrid’s next encounter will see them take on Liverpool on Tuesday in the Champions League.

[Image via WallHud]