Messi is world’s best...just don’t tell Ronaldo - Totti

The Roma legend believes football has lost some of its romanticism due to large transfer fees, but he is still smitten with the Barcelona star.


Francesco Totti believes Lionel Messi is the best player in the world despite Cristiano Ronaldo pulling level on five Ballons d’Or apiece earlier this month.

Real Madrid’s dual La Liga and Champions League triumphs last season set Ronaldo up to claim world football’s premier individual prize but Messi has also blazed a familiarly impressive trail.

The mercurial Argentinian inspired a 3-0 win for Barca at the Santiago Bernabeu last Saturday, with Ronaldo a largely becalmed presence in the latest edition of the Clasico.

Totti was a similarly adored figure during a superb playing career at Roma that spanned three decades.

Although he now sees events such as Neymar’s world-record move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain as an example of football breaking distastefully with its past, the former Italy forward is happy to marvel at the two greats of this generation.

“I really preferred the football of a long time ago. Today it is just crazy,” he said at the Dubai International Sports Conference.