Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and more: David Villa builds his ultimate footballer
Former Barcelona striker David Villa has named Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi among other stars while building his ultimate footballer. In an interview with GOAL, the Spaniard revealed his picks based on left foot, right foot, speed, strength, and football IQ.
Villa named Lionel Messi when asked about his choice for left foot. He has played with the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner during his three-season tenure at Camp Nou.
For the right foot, the 42-year-old chose Portugal national team captain Cristiano Ronaldo. When asked about speed, David Villa went with former Atlético Madrid striker and now the manager of their second (B) team, Fernando Torres, whom the Spaniard claimed to be "very quick."
Villa picked former Real Madrid captain and defender Sergio Ramos as his choice for strength. Both players were teammates in the Spain national team for 12 years.
Lastly, for football IQ, David Villa chose former Manchester City midfielder David Silva, who was also his national teammate for 11 years.
David Villa, who was regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, started his senior career with the reserve team of his boyhood club Sporting Gijón in 2001. He is the all-time top goalscorer of the Spain national team and is currently working as the Technical Advisor and Head of Global Football Operations for Indian Super League club Odisha FC.
Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini opens up about playing against Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini shared his experience of playing with Cristiano Ronaldo and against Lionel Messi. The former Italian defender joined the Old Lady from Fiorentina in 2005 and continued there for 17 years before joining Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC in 2022.
Chiellini played 561 games for Juventus and 117 for the Italian national team. In a recent interview with Spanish publication AS, the former Roma star was asked about playing against Messi and Ronaldo to which he said:
"I played with Cristiano and it seemed incredible, and I'm sure that anyone who played with Messi would say the same thing. For me, they were at the same level, they wrote legendary pages and fueled their growth with the constant challenge, record after record."
Giorgio Chiellini played with Cristiano Ronaldo for three years at Juventus, from 2018 to 2021. He played against Lionel Messi four times in his career and came up against the Portuguese icon six times.