Ronaldinho: When former Barcelona star named better players than Lionel Messi amid debate vs Cristiano Ronaldo

Football great, Ronaldinho once made controversial comments when he was asked about Lionel Messi's place in football history.

Messi is often regarded as the best player ever alongside his archnemesis, Cristiano Ronaldo, with the two dominating every top competition for close to 15 years.

One would have thought that having seen and trained with Messi first-hand, Ronaldinho would jump at the opportunity to declare him the best ever.

However, while admitting the Argentine was a legend in his own right, the Brazilian surprisingly fell short of declaring him the best ever and instead chose three other players he believed were superior.

Ronaldinho made his comments when Messi won his sixth Ballon d'Or award in 2019. "I'm glad Messi won the Ballon d'Or.

We were also friends during our time in Barcelona. But I don't like to compare, and I find it difficult to say he is the best of all time. There was Diego Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo... it's hard to say that Messi is the best in the history of football.

I can only say he is the best of his era," as quoted by Sport Bible.

It would be interesting to see if Ronaldinho's sentiments have changed after La Albiceleste won a third World Cup title in 2022.

When it comes down to choosing who is better between Messi and Ronaldo, the 2002 World Cup winner chose his fellow South American, as reported by Bleacher Report.