Buffon: 'Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi? Choosing one would be an insult to football'
During an interview Gianluigi Buffon recounted his long career at club and international level, also touching on the eternal comparison between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo:
“Choosing one of the two would be an insult to the game of football – it would be disrespectful to either of them. When people tell me, ‘Gigi, you were the greatest goalkeeper in history’, I, having had a certainly special career, must admit that to be called the greatest or to be defined as such is an exaggeration. Sometimes it’s the coincidences – the luck of playing for certain teams at particular historical moments – that help you seem even better than you truly are.
"So I believe that Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have been, and still are, two champions of enormous value – probably the brightest stars of the last 10 or 15 years of football – but behind them there have been many others of equal calibre.
"If I had to choose between the two, I really wouldn’t know who to pick, also because they have different characteristics: Cristiano Ronaldo is more of a forward, a goal-scorer; Messi is almost a playmaker in his style, even though he also delights in scoring. I respect them both immensely.”
