Barcelona director Deco has his say on the Messi vs Ronaldo debate: “Very hard to choose”

Speaking in an interview with the FourFourTwo magazine (h/t SPORT), Barcelona sporting director Deco has had his say on who’s the better between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Deco happens to be one of the few footballers to have shared the pitch with both Messi and Ronaldo.

The former midfielder was at Barcelona when the Argentine burst through the ranks while he played a lot of matches with Ronaldo for the Portugal national team.

Given that he has seen both the footballing greats in action from close quarters, the Barcelona director was asked which he stood on in the Messi vs Ronaldo debate, to which he gave a diplomatic response.

“They are different players, it’s very hard to choose between one or the other,” Deco remarked.

The current Barcelona director then gave his take on what made Messi and Ronaldo special, saying: “Messi has always been a natural talent. He has adapted to the game over time, but his way of moving has always been the same.

“When he started to get opportunities in matches, he continued to do the same. He made everything look easy.”

On Ronaldo, he added: “When he was young he was a pure winger, he picked up the ball and all he thought about was dribbling past everyone. He grew a lot as a footballer, becoming the most competitive beast I’ve ever seen.”

“The ideal would be to have them both in the team,” he added. “It would be to pass them the ball and wait for the rest.”