In the days and weeks since Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2017 Ballon d'Or to equal Lionel Messi's tally of five, everyone has been asking the same question: who is really number one?

Messi and Ronaldo have been battling for supremacy for the best part of a decade now and with both players now in their 30s, soon they will have to step aside.

Despite how the 2017 Ballon d'Or panned out, many still believe Messi is the world's best - and possibly even the greatest ever.

Eden Hazard's Chelsea face Barcelona in the Champions League soon and the Belgian is in no doubt that Messi is top of the pile.

"When you are playing football, you want to play against the best team in the world, against the best player in the world," said Hazard. "Messi is the best player in the world."

Barcelona legend Rivaldo concurs, saying recently: "I would like to play with Messi, it would be amazing. He is the best of the world, the one who makes more differences."

It's no exaggeration that most professional footballers favour Messi over Ronaldo, although the Real Madrid man is in no doubt that he's the best.

According to Ronaldo, what separates him from his Argentine rival is that he's a complete player who's won pretty much everything, for both club and country.

But we're talking about individual talent here, not collective achievements, and now Francesco Totti has given his verdict on Messi vs Ronaldo.

It turns out the Roma and Italy legend is a huge fan of Messi - but he doesn't want Ronaldo to find out.

"I really preferred the football of a long time ago. Today it is just crazy," said Totti at the Dubai International Sports Conference, per FourFourTwo.

"Football has deeply changed between my time and now. I prefer the romantic football of before, now it is all about business.

"There are players like Ronaldo and Neymar, but Neymar is an example of this big price, it is too much to pay €250 million for a player. This goes beyond reality.

"But Messi is number one - just don't tell Cristiano!"

So there you have it: Totti is the latest football legend to choose Messi over Ronaldo.

It's an entirely subjective argument that will always come down to personal preference, but unfortunately for Ronaldo, everyone seems to agree that Messi is the best in the world.