The debate about who is truly better between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will never truly end, will it?

Both men have won five Ballon d'Or awards and are the cornerstone of two of the biggest sides in the world, but it seems as though fans believe one has to be the greatest.

The latest man to weight in on the debate is Barcelona legend Rivaldo.

Although the Brazilian forward had a slew of little-known clubs at the end of his career, everybody remembers the five glorious years he had with Barcelona.

Rivaldo won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1999, so he has the pedigree to make a professional comment on the eternal argument.

However, it should come as no surprise to Barca fans that Rivaldo has sided with Messi and he's made it clear that the Argentine is the 'best of the world'.

"I would like to play with Messi, it would be amazing. He is the best of the world, the one who makes more differences," Rivaldo told Betfair via Goal.

Still, he acknowledged that Ronaldo is a top player none the less.

"Ronaldo? He is the most dangerous player at Real. It is hard to stop him, like Messi, because both score a lot of goals and you never know what is going to be the next thing they will invent for scoring."

The 45-year-old old, however, doesn't believe the standard of players today is what it used to be and if he was still playing, he thinks he could wrestle the Ballon d'Or away from Messi and Ronaldo.

"If Ronaldo won is because he deserved it," Rivaldo added. "In my time there were more players than today challenging for being the best in the world.

" I remember Figo, Del Piero or Totti, now you always hear about the same players and I am pretty sure I could challenge with Messi and Ronaldo because football was harder in my times.

"I am not here for controversy, I'll just say that both are very good players. However, in my time you could find more quality players than today, in which you only hear about Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar."