🚨🗣️ Zlatan Ibrahimović on the Messi vs Ronaldo GOAT debate:
“Every week, every month, every year, somebody asks me the same question.”
🗣️ “‘Zlatan, who is the GOAT? Messi or Ronaldo?’”
🗣️ “Honestly? I get tired of hearing it.”
🗣️ “Not because they aren't great players. They are.”
🗣️ “But because people talk about football as if it is a video game.”
🗣️ “One player scores a goal and suddenly he's the GOAT.”
🗣️ “The other wins a trophy and suddenly the debate is over.”
🗣️ “Football is bigger than that.”
🗣️ “Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest athletes football has ever seen.”
🗣️ “The goals. The mentality. The discipline. The longevity.”
🗣️ “Nobody can take that away from him.”
🗣️ “Over 900 career goals.”
🗣️ “League titles in different countries.”
🗣️ “Champions Leagues.”
🗣️ “Records everywhere.”
🗣️ “Cristiano created a legacy that may never be repeated.”
🗣️ “But then there is Lionel Messi.”
🗣️ “And this is where people get angry with me.”
🗣️ “Because for me, Messi is not normal.”
🗣️ “Cristiano mastered football.”
🗣️ “Messi became football.”
🗣️ “When I watch Messi, I don't see a player following the game.”
🗣️ “I see a player creating the game.”
🗣️ “The goals.”
🗣️ “The assists.”
🗣️ “The dribbling.”
🗣️ “The vision.”
🗣️ “The intelligence.”
🗣️ “The World Cup.”
🗣️ “Everything.”
🗣️ “People ask me how I compare them.”
🗣️ “Sometimes I don't understand the comparison.”
🗣️ “It's like comparing a lion to a shark.”
🗣️ “Both are killers.”
🗣️ “But they hunt differently.”
🗣️ “Cristiano is the greatest goalscorer I have ever seen.”
🗣️ “Messi is the greatest footballer I have ever seen.”
🗣️ “There is a difference.”
🗣️ “And before Ronaldo fans get angry, listen carefully.”
🗣️ “Being second to Messi is not an insult.”
🗣️ “Most players would dream of being second.”
🗣️ “Cristiano is a legend.”
🗣️ “A football icon.”
🗣️ “A player who changed history.”
🗣️ “But if you lock me in a room and force me to choose one player...”
🗣️ “One player for one match.”
🗣️ “One player for my life.”
🗣️ “One player to represent football itself.”
🗣️ “I choose Messi.”
🗣️ “Every time.”
🗣️ “Because goals can be broken.”
🗣️ “Records can be broken.”
🗣️ “Trophies can be matched.”
🗣️ “But what Messi does with a football?”
🗣️ “That cannot be taught.”
🗣️ “That cannot be trained.”
🗣️ “That is a gift from God.”
🐐🇦🇷⚽
🗣️ “Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players in history.”
🗣️ “Lionel Messi is history.”
Tonight is the peak of the best Villa side under the best manager that I've witnessed in 35 years of supporting this wonderful club. European Champions, top 5, beating every top team in the Prem, scoring worldies every week. Enjoy every second. #avfc
When Unai Emery took over at Aston Villa in November of 2022, they were 14th and just 3 points above the relegation zone.
They won 15 of their remaining league games to finish 7th & qualify for the UEFA Conference, from there they finished 4th in the 2023/24 season, making it into the Champions League whilst simultaneously reaching the Conference League semi-finals.
This season, they’ve made it to a Champions League quarter-final where they’ll be pitted against Luis Enrique’s PSG, they’re sat in 8th in the Premier League, just two points off the likely 5th placed Champions League positions and have an FA Cup quarter-final with Preston standing between them and a trip to Wembley.
Emery has raised the ceiling massively when it comes to Aston Villa’s expectations across his 2.5 years in the dugout. A truly superb job. 👏
Alexa, define 'surreal'.
'Surreal is watching Man City play Real Madrid knowing Aston Villa were too good to have to even play in this round of the Champions League'.
#avfc
Thomas Tuchel would become the England men's senior team's fourth foreign coach after Sven-Göran Eriksson (Swedish), Fabio Capello (Italian) and Steve McClaren (Dutch).