Alright guys, who do you guys think is the 3rd best players in the world after Messi and Ronaldo?

@Dynast I started watching football in 2015. :(

Ronaldo is the best European player of all time, his records speak for themselves.
Messi at this point just needs to win the World Cup this year and he overcomes Maradona.

The third player doesn't exist yet when compared to what Ronaldo and Messi have done in the last 10-13 years or so.

Then you missed out on both Messi and Ronaldo's peaks, haha. Tough luck.

@Dynastian I know, I missed so many good stuff like AC Milan with Zlatan and Pato, Inter Milan treble, Manchester City last minute title win and so many great player in their prime. :(

If you don't consider Ronaldo one of the very best players to have lived, either you bleed ignorance or hatred. It's beyond question now that he is one of the 5 or 6 greatest players to have ever lived.

Of course I do, but what does that got to do with anything? I simply believe he has decreased in terms of individual play for the past few seasons, except with his goalscoring rate due to his positioning and more of a poacher role. I think hes very limited now compared to earlier and offers very little to the offensive play other than being lethal inside the box. But now will probably everyone tell me that he played a crucial role yesterday with his world class movements up and down the pitch which resulted in a 2-1 win for Real thanks to Ronaldo. (Only player who shouldn't be criticized for having an off-match in CL btw. But people act as he was world class yet again yesterday and also vs Juve 2nd match due to the penalty, when he obviously wasn't.)

You simply can't critize Ronaldo on anything here without getting accusations of being a hater. I simply rate Messi higher because hes more complete than Ronaldo, and contribute a lot more offensively. Doesn't mean I don't rate Ronaldo. Just don't think he deserves all the praise he has been getting over the last years. On here at least, since this is a very pro Ronaldo site.

You simply can't critize Ronaldo on anything here without getting accusations of being a hater. I simply rate Messi higher because hes more complete than Ronaldo, and contribute a lot more offensively. Doesn't mean I don't rate Ronaldo. Just don't think he deserves all the praise he has been getting over the last years. On here at least, since this is a very pro Ronaldo site.

Messi just likes to have the ball more in his feet and plays more deeper, that alone doesn't make him a better contributor.
I find it very ironic since both went to Italy, Ronaldo after away match vs Juventus got the whole stadium clapping for him, while Messi was invisible in Rome and got kicked out, reminds of last season when Messi in 2 games vs Juventus couldn't score a goal and later on Ronaldo scored 2 in the Final against the same team.

that alone doesn't make him a better contributor.

Maybe you should try to watch an actual Barca match and see for yourself how important and dependant Barca are on Messi. He literally have to do everything himself offensively. Especially since Suarez has been poor for majority of the season (he's still producing goals + assist, but are generally bad).

reminds of last season when Messi in 2 games vs Juventus couldn't score a goal and later on Ronaldo scored 2 in the Final against the same team.

This "since Ronaldo scored against x team, and Messi didn't score against x team = Ronaldo is better than Messi" logic is so stupid.. And do you really expect a playmaker, who mainly drop deep, to produce the same amount of goals in every match as a striker, who mainly sits in the box? And let's not talk about the big quality difference between Barca and Real, which are obvious once they play the bigger teams.

And with contribution I meant with what happened on the pitch. Not a useless Player Goals / Team Goals crap that literally says nothing about a player's contribution to x team.

@Pupper

Sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you were implying that he has been nothing but a goal-scorer for his entire career.

Maybe you should try to watch an actual Barca match and see for yourself how important and dependant Barca are on Messi. He literally have to do everything himself offensively. Especially since Suarez has been poor for majority of the season (he's still producing goals + assist, but are generally bad).

Yes but why does that make him a a better contributor?

This "since Ronaldo scored against x team, and Messi didn't score against x team = Ronaldo is better than Messi" logic is so stupid.. And do you really expect a playmaker, who mainly drop deep, to produce the same amount of goals in every match as a striker, who mainly sits in the box? And let's not talk about the big quality difference between Barca and Real, which are obvious once they play the bigger teams.

Messi could produce more goals when Iniesta was younger and when Xavi was still there though.

And with contribution I meant with what happened on the pitch. Not a useless Player Goals / Team Goals crap that literally says nothing about a player's contribution to x team.

Well some of the most important things that happen on the pitch are goals and team goals, if not the most important aspect of a football game.
But if you only want to look at other things, you're missing a lot which can lead to you saying that Messi contributes more when some stats say that he actually is far behind so lets not just ignore it because it does matter.

@Pupper: i always have the exact same thought as you. I watch both Barca and Real games.

And Ronaldo is never a true wow factor. Especially in the last 4 years. In fact he is a wow factor for the bad and wrong reasons, (lots of bad dribbles, lost balls and selfishness, then demand balls all the time). But thats not how we should define Ronaldo, he can be bad the whole game and kill you off with 2 goals in the slightest chances.

He is that lethal thanks for his deadly scoring skill and smart movement. He scores in all crucial games, and king of CL. Definitely 2nd best now.

Compare to Real where they have 2 world best left back 1 best central back, 2 best CMD and 2 best CAM, Messi plays in a team of much lesser talent, full of confuse and overrated players (like Pique), and aging stars, with less than a handful of excellent players. But he became the architect and finisher of the game

For that Messi is no1.

Neymar is not in the picture for me, great talent, skills, very entertaining but his move to PSG and injury dragged him down.

De GEA is number 3.
Please be in MU chair and you will see how much u should appreciate this guy. If you count all >70% chance of goal saves, he made as a goal. He would score more than Ronaldo Messi combined. He has done that along with 3 coaches. If not for him, we would have been in the lower mid table.

Then its Salah/KVB.
I love both. But the CL games did define who the winner is.

And Ronaldo is never a true wow factor. Especially in the last 4 years.

Maybe you just missed all the records he broke in the last 4 years, all the clutch goals and reactions from the football world, just some weeks ago he scored one of the most impressive goals in CL history and the whole stadium stood up and clapped, if what he has been doing in this season alone as a 34 year old player is not a wow factor then for people like you even if he does 3 times as much you will still play him down.

🎶GOT a loong list of football players!! Theyll tel you I'M INSAANE!! Coz you know i loove the plaayers! And YOU. LOVE. THE GAAME!!!🎶🎶

that just seemed to go.

Ronaldo's goal-scoring record is insane. He is surely among the top 2-3 players in the world.

But compared to what he used to be, we are just seeing an aged shell of Ronaldo. He used to be able to take the ball from midfield, dribble past three or four players, and smash the ball into the back of the net. He just doesn't have the body to do that anymore. So he adapted to goal-scoring at the cost of his overall impact on the game.

He is the deadliest player in the penalty box, for sure. But I don't think that makes him necessarily better than Neymar or Messi, who are still able to affect other aspects of the game. Ronaldo was once able to do that as well as Messi, but he's 2.5 years older than Leo and has picked up more injuries, so we're seeing a very different version of him.

Messi will soon wane as well, so enjoy him while you can, Barca fans. I can already see a distinct difference between Messi at 30 years of age and Messi at 24 years of age. He isn't anywhere near as explosive or quick as he used to be.

Soon we'll be seeing an aged and slow version of Leo, and the same kind of people who are saying "Ronaldo can only score! He isn't as good as Messi" will be saying "Messi can only pass! He isn't as good as Neymar" just a few years from now.

Although I must admit, Ronaldo should be commended for maximizing his potential. It would he heartbreaking to see him try to play as a winger again and just fail to dribble past players because he no longer has the speed or touch. He realized his weaknesses, and adapted his game to increase the longevity of his career. How many players have we seen do that? I've only seen Pirlo change positions to lengthen his career.

That is the paradox of a superstar's mentality - you have to be humble enough to acknowledge your own weaknesses during training, whilst simultaneously be arrogant enough to believe you are the best in the world and will always deliver come judgment day. Ronaldo and Neymar both have this mentality, IMO, and Messi has traces of it too. Although I still maintain that Messi would benefit from more arrogance because it would give him the self-confidence he so direly needs in big games.

Ronaldo is obviously not capable of running down the wing as before, even more so he is far less willing to use his body to protect the ball while dribbling as he gives up fast in order to protect himself from injuries but he can still dribble pretty well and keep the ball but he is mostly trying to do a lot with minimal touches with the ball and he often does exactly that, people often praised players like Hazard and Henry for being able to continue the distribution of the ball with a slight touch, that's exactly what Ronaldo has been doing in the past few years.

People don't realize how big of a hole there is when he isn't in the team, the amount of goals he produces every single year hasn't been done by a European player before and it's really not easy to do what Ronaldo has done, if it was so easy someone would have done it as well but nobody was able to produce such wins for the team as him, take him out of the team and Real Madrid would have never won La Liga and Back-to back Champions League titles. It is not a coincidence that Real Madrid is the current La Liga,Champions League champion and that Portugal won the Euro for the first time in their history.

In the end of the day it's sometimes good to remember that the whole point of the game is to win, it and the only way of doing it is to score goals, that simple design was always the main reason why attacking players were always more expensive and important compared to defenders and it will continue to be that way.

Messi might just win the World Cup and become the best player in history but that doesn't change Ronaldo being the best European player of all time.

@Golazo Well, Ronaldo for me is 100% best goalscorer in europe at the moment (propably of history tbf). He also the most important player in europe atm for his team. No player has had as much influence in CL in important game than him. No doubt.

Modric

@Golazo: true. Ìf you read further the next sentence i wrote after that. Ít is exactly what you said. Which i indicated Ronaldo is the 2nd best right now. And I also acknowledge how crucial he is and how he manage to score all those important goals in the CL.

The only remark and why I put Messi a bove be cause of Messi's involvement and wonder skills while having a much lesser squad around him.

Again, I think we can all agree how Real's squad is superior than Barca right? I dont say that mean they can win easily. I say because of that Messi would have to create stuff on his own more often. And very often, create some wonders.

I have never seen anyone as lethal as Ronaldo. And move as smart as him. In history.

But I have never seen some one makes me jaw dropped week in week out, like Messi.

Back to the topic I wish De Gea has the right votes. He deserves it

The only remark and why I put Messi a bove be cause of Messi's involvement and wonder skills while having a much lesser squad around him.

I think for you the wow factor means a particular thing that is not related to scoring goals, I'm more pragmatic in that sense that I value the most in the wow factor if someone can solve the game, being flashy with no end result matters less to me personally.
The last thing you said sounds like an excuse in the making though, Messi had a superior squad in Barcelona for the majority of his peak years as a player, from 23-28 years of age.

Again, I think we can all agree how Real's squad is superior than Barca right?

I think last year Real Madrid had a better squad that was superior to Barcelona, both in terms of first depth and possible roles but this year both teams are pretty much even on paper, Real Madrid lost some players while Barcelona after losing Neymar got more than enough in return of talent.

If I look more years back, Barcelona has had a superior squad due to the golden generation of Spanish players, Iniesta was younger and Xavi was still there so was Dani Alves as the player with the most titles in the world was still there as well so if you're trying to make the argument of how Ronaldo benefits from his team, Messi benefited a lot from that Spanish generation that won the World Cup and Euro Cup which had the key players in Barcelona, it actually helped him to win a Golden Ball even when Sneijder had won a treble for example but at the same time Ronaldo still till this day has someone like Sergio Ramos from that same generation, maybe it's less players but still you get the point it's almost like making an excuse for one of them if we say that one had a better team around him than the other.

Ronaldo for example in Manchester United had also a great squad so many players from that time could score, if we don't count him there were still players from Scholes and Giggs that could score or assist then even Nani could do that as well even in his first season in Manchester and then he had Rooney,Tevez,Saha,Berbatov,Larsson,Smith and if that didn't work Rio and Vidic could score from the corners as well and some utility players like Fletcher,Park,Carrick could step in as well...I can almost argue that Ronaldo benefited more in Manchester when counting his team chemistry than in Madrid...

But it's still Ronaldo that worked like a madman to become what he became, if he had been content with less he wouldn't have come to this point in his career, we could be talking about him ending up like maybe Obertan that was also a talent but couldn't establish himself.

I think it will always be harder for Real Madrid to make a real team since they buy from everywhere a bunch of stars with egos, while Barcelona has had a more stable generation that reminds a bit of Manchester United where there had been in the past a couple of long lasting top players where just a few new stars join here and there, at least thats how it has been in the last 18 years or so it's not the same buying a Cannavaro compared to buying back your own academy player Pique if you know what I mean.

Big historical players from the past made the team they didn't suffer from the rest that were not as good as them but they carried them, Messi has been doing it with Barcelona like Ronaldo with Real Madrid and Manchester United but obviously they were not the only top players and even if they do it in different ways from eachother they still do it, maybe Ronaldo can't do today what Messi is doing so there is nothing to be done there but I think that Messi can learn from Ronaldo a lot when it comes to leadership and character.

And Ronaldo is never a true wow factor. Especially in the last 4 years. In fact he is a wow factor for the bad and wrong reasons, (lots of bad dribbles, lost balls and selfishness, then demand balls all the time).

Funniest (and probably dumbest) thing I've read my entire life. And I've read some pretty bizarre stuff.