"For me, they were at the same level" - Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini on playing against Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Juventus legend Giorgio Chiellini believes that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo operated at the same level. The iconic duo are among the greatest footballers to have ever played the game.
Chiellini joined Juventus from Fiorentina in 2005 and stayed there for 17 years, finally departing for the MLS in 2022. He played 561 games for Juventus and 117 for the Italian national team, coming up against some of the best attackers in the world.
In a recent interview with Spanish publication AS, Chiellini was asked about playing against Messi and Ronaldo. 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."
Chiellini also shared the dressing room with Ronaldo for three years at Juventus, from 2018 to 2021. He faced Messi four times in his career (twice with Juventus, once with Italy, and once with LAFC) and came up against Ronaldo six times (all six with the Old Lady).
Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus teammate Giorgio Chiellini recalls the first time he played against Lionel Messi
In the aforementioned interview, Giorgio Chiellini also shared his memory of the first time he played Lionel Messi. The Argentine is one of the greatest players of all time and the Italian former defender confirmed that even in 2005, he was a special player.
Chiellini said:
"From Messi, I remember my first [Janan Trophy] Gamper in 2005. Capello put me in the midfield of a 4x4x2, with Pessotto the left-back, who marked Leo, and Cannavaro doing the fold. At the end of the first part, we were in shock at what he did."
Despite his amazing abilities, Lionel Messi never scored against the Italian former defender. Talking about his experience playing alongside and against Cristiano Ronaldo, Chiellini said:
"Cristiano is the player who scored the most goals for my Juve, and it was not an easy thing. The Argentine never scored playing against me, while CR7 did it in every possible way."
Chiellini recently called time on his illustrious career this January after spending a year and a half at LAFC.