Neymar makes interesting claim about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar has stated that he would choose Lionel Messi’s left foot over Cristiano Ronaldo’s right foot.
The Brazilian recently returned from an injury and has begun training to be in peak condition for the clash against Barcelona on March 10th.
Neymar and Lionel Messi played together at Barcelona from 2013 to 2017. They forged a brilliant understanding with Luis Suarez to form the best attacking trio for a few years.
While he was at Barcelona, Neymar frequently came up against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid. In an interview with UOL (via Marca) in 2016, Neymar was asked if he would prefer Lionel Messi’s left foot or Cristiano Ronaldo’s right foot. The Brazilian explained that he would choose Messi’s left as his own right foot is not bad. He said:
"I'd take Lionel Messi's left foot, with all due respect to Cristiano Ronaldo, because my right foot is pretty handy too."
Neymar yet to hit the heights of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo despite his outrageous potential
Neymar moved to PSG to come out of Lionel Messi’s shadow and carve out his own name. However, he hasn’t really managed to do that.
The Brazilian hasn’t been at his consistent best at PSG, as Kylian Mbappe has arguably outshone him in recent seasons.
At 29, Neymar has lifted plenty of titles in his career, but the Ballon d’Or and the World Cup still elude him. When he burst onto the scene with Santos, he was compared to the great Ronaldo de Lima because of his dribbling style and flair in attack.
Despite playing in a less competitive league compared to La Liga, Neymar is yet to usurp his best season with Barcelona at Paris. The 2015-16 season with the Blaugrana remains his personal best as he scored 24 league goals and mustered an incredible 16 assists in the league.
His contract with PSG runs until 2022, so it remains to be seen what he will do this summer. Talks of a new contract with PSG are on-going, and he will perhaps sign an extension to give it one final go to lift the Ballon d’Or and emulate the likes of Messi and Ronaldo.