The midfielder has hailed the Argentine as a great player but unsurprisingly favours his former Real Madrid team-mate over the Barcelona talisman
Bayern Munich star Xabi Alonso says Cristiano Ronaldo was a better player than Lionel Messi during his time in Spain.
The midfielder played alongside Ronaldo at Real Madrid but also did battle with Messi on numerous occasions during his five years at the Santiago Bernabeu between 2009 and 2014.
However, despite praising the Argentina star, Alonso unsurprisingly offered his backing to his ex-team-mate when asked about who is the better of the two global superstars.
The playmaker said: “Both of them are amazing players. You only need to look at the goals they score. While I was at Madrid, for me, Cristiano was the best.”
The Spaniard will come up against Messi again on Wednesday night when Bayern face Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Bavarians boss Pep Guardiola says he has no special plans to stop the four-time Ballon d’Or winner and Alonso admits that the diminutive No.10 is difficult to nullify when on top form.
“He’s a great player and it’s not easy to stop him, but we will try,” added the former Liverpool man.
“I’ve played a lot of times against Barca over the years but this time is going to be very different. We’re all looking forward to it and hoping to put in a good game.”