'Ronaldo has proved he is the GOAT, Messi is a flat-track bully’

Piers Morgan has ranked Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest player of all time in his top 10 list.

Cristiano Ronaldo has proved he is above Lionel Messi as the greatest player of all time, according to Piers Morgan.

Despite much criticism from a difficult return to Manchester United this season, Ronaldo silenced his critics once again on Saturday by scoring the 59th hat-trick of his career to lead the club to a 3-2 win over Tottenham.

His match-winning performance has won a lot of praise and, in Morgan’s opinion, settles the debate between himself and Messi.

‘The argument is surely over’

“Just consider this startling fact: only one player has scored more Premier League goals than Ronaldo this season (Salah), but 91 players have scored more than Messi in Ligue 1 for PSG,” the English broadcaster wrote in The Sun.

“The Argentinian’s tally of just two goals in 18 league games is by far the worst of his mercurial career, but his painful struggles in Paris perfectly exemplify why Ronaldo is the GOAT.

“For me, it comes down to this: Messi is a genius, no question, but I’ve long suspected he’s what cricket fans would call a ‘flat-track bully.’ For the first 17 years of his career, he only ever played for one club, Barcelona, where he was always surrounded by whole teams of world-class players.

“From the moment he left Spain and was taken out of his heavily protected comfort zone, he’s faded faster than my taste buds after I caught Covid.

“Yet Ronaldo has repeatedly moved clubs, and countries, to give himself new challenges, from Portugal to England, Spain to Italy. And everywhere he’s gone, he’s delivered big titles and broken more scoring records.

“Even at 36, when he could have taken a massive pay-day for relaxed semi-retirement in America, he took a huge gamble instead by going back to a poor Manchester United side that’s never recovered from his mentor Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure.

‘This is what makes a GOAT’

“Also unlike Messi, who is three years younger, Ronaldo – now 37 – is defying all normal age limitations to continue performing miracles in the toughest of leagues.

“The stats don’t lie: Ronaldo’s now the greatest ever Champions League goal-scorer, the greatest international goal-scorer, and the greatest overall goal-scorer.

“This isn’t because he’s a better natural player than Messi, or indeed other gifted greats like Ronaldinho and George Best, but because he has superior mental strength and resilience.

“And that, as Michael Phelps proved at swimming, and Tiger Woods has proved at golf, is what makes a GOAT.”

Morgan’s top 10 greatest footballers of all time

1️⃣ Cristiano Ronaldo
2️⃣ Diego Maradona
3️⃣ Lionel Messi
4️⃣ Ronaldinho
5️⃣ Ronaldo Nazario
6️⃣ George Best
7️⃣ Pele
8️⃣ Thierry Henry
9️⃣ Zinedine Zidane
🔟 Paolo Maldini