Former Barcelona star, Alexander Hleb, has said that Lionel Messi is inferior to Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of leadership and coming out brighter in difficult times.
Hleb was Messi’s former Barcelona team-mate. He spoke out in the wake of this week round of Champions League fixtures.
Ronaldo and Messi have each won five Ballon d’Or awards during their careers.
The duo will be gunning for the prestigious prize once again this year.
Zindine Zindane’s men have struggled domestically this season but have surpassed Barcelona in the Champions League.
Ronaldo inspired Real to knock Juventus out at the quarter-finals stage on Wednesday night, 24 hours after Messi had seen Roma crash out against Roma.
Hleb said Real Madrid being on course to win the Champions League for a third time in a row means Ronaldo is better than Messi.
He told Sports Express, “Ronaldo is still not number one.
“But as a leader Cristiano is really stronger than Messi. This is confirmed by facts and more than once.
“For me, Messi as a player is more talented. But as the leader of the team, he is inferior to Ronaldo.
“In difficult moments, the Portuguese clearly shows himself brighter.
“Real generally act as a single mechanism, with such a selection of players they are calmly, confidently going to their goal.”
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