Rodri opens up on Goat debate Ronaldo and Messi

Manchester City midfielder and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri has opened up on the GOAT debate between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The fans of both legendary players have been at loggerheads for more than a decade to prove who is the Greatest of All Time in football. Interestingly, Rodri has played against both Ronaldo and Messi earlier in this career during his stints with Villarreal and Atletico Madrid in LaLiga.

Ronaldo would turn up for Real Madrid, while Messi played for Barcelona, terrorizing the opposition players with their exceptional skills. Opening up on his experience of sharing the field in the opposition team, Rodri, in an interview with El Hormiguero, weighed in the debate in Messi’s favour while also praising his Portuguese counterpart for the talent he possesses as the attacker.

“Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt. Cristiano has managed to match Messi without innate talent. But those of us who have played against them can see the difference. We didn’t want Cristiano to step into the box because he was lethal there,” Rodri said.

However, when it comes to Messi, the 28-year-old Spanish midfielder admitted that the opponent teams get frightened the moment the Argentine gets the ball at any moment of the match. 

“But with Messi, the danger was everywhere on the pitch. When Messi got the ball, you’d think: 'Oh, danger'. When I first started playing against him, I tried to take the ball from him, and he dodged you as if you were a bull in the ring. The feeling I had was that something bad was about to happen,” he added.

Rodri’s U-turn on GOAT debate

Interestingly and surprisingly, back in August 2024, when Rodri was asked by GOAL to pick the greatest of all time player in football, he had snubbed both Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. He had then picked Kevin De Bruyne as the GOAT in the sport having played with him for the majority of his career. 

The duo has played together in 184 matches since the 2019-20 season across different competitions scoring six goals together. Both the midfielders are currently with Manchester City and have played most games together for the club.

For the unversed, Rodri is currently out of action having injured himself during the match against Arsenal earlier in the season. He was ruled out of the entire season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament and is eyeing a comeback in the next season.