Gerard Pique Chooses Between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as He Settles GOAT Debate

• Gerard Pique played alongside both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi
• The retired Barcelona star believes one is a level above the rest in the world
• He retired from the game in November 2022 after an illustrious career

Former Barcelona star Gerard Pique weighed in on the unending Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate with a brilliant summary of his experience with both players.

The 37-year-old is one of a few football stars who has had the rare priviledge of being on the same team as both players in his career.

He briefly shared moments with Ronaldo at Manchester United, just as the Portuguese superstar was emerging as one of the hottest prospects in football before eventually joining Barcelona in 2008.

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At Barca, Pique met another young upcoming global superstar in Lionel Messi and together they would enjoy immense success with the Catalan club.

There is no doubt that both Ronaldo and Messi are up there when talking about the greatest footballers to play the game, but who does Pique rank higher?

The answer to this is almost obvious, as the 2010 World Champion recently appeared on talkSPORT where he labelled one of the two as the greatest player of all time.

Pique singles out Messi

According to Pique, who came up in Barcelona’s La Massia academy before joining Manchester United, youth games that had Lionel Messi used to be “boring” as rival teams would end up losing 13-0 and at times 35-0.

Asked whether he believed Messi was the greatest, Pique said on the podcast, “Yeah, for sure. He’s the greatest player in the history of the game so for sure.”

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He then described his experience with a young upcoming Messi, whom he recalls being very tiny in his early days.

“When he arrived, he was very small, thin, like crazy small. We saw him first and said, ‘Whoa, this guy, if we touch him, we will destroy him so be careful.'” Pique explained.

Despite his small stature, Pique was awed by the Argentine’s incredible dribbling ability, and just before he left for Manchester United, he recalls Messi becoming an integral part of the La Massia.

Pique had more fun with Ronaldo

On Cristiano, Pique admitted it he grew a bond with the Portuguese superstar at Manchester United and had more fun with the forward.

“When I played with him, he wasn’t speaking English at that time so he spoke Portuguese which is similar to Spanish and this is why we became like very close. I had so much fun at that time with Cristiano,” said Pique.

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The pair spent three years together at United, lifting the Premier League in 2007-08. They also won the League Cup in 2006, as per The Guardian.

Shakira disses Pique, again

Sports Brief also reported on the sly dig Pique received from his ex partner Shakira.

In a recent interview, the pop singer refused to refer to Pique by name, instead using the Harry Potter protagonist Voldemort.

In the two years they have been separated, Shakira has not shied away from talking about Pique, with the pop superstar consistently taking swipes at the former Barcelona star.