Steven Gerrard has had his say on the Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo debate

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By Scott Wilson

Published Jun 20, 2018

Gerrard has had his say on football's finest debate

Cristiano Ronaldo continued his fine start to the 2018 World Cup by scoring the only goal in Portugal’s 1-0 win over Morocco.

The Real Madrid star, who bagged a hat-trick against Spain, added to his tally with a fine header in the fourth minute.

In finding the net, Ronaldo became Europe’s all-time top international scorer with 85 goals to his name.

Fair play.

Lionel Messi will be fully aware that this is slowly turning into Ronaldo’s tournament and he now faces a huge challenge to catch his rival.

That missed penalty against Iceland was costly in that it denied Argentina three points, but it also means the World Cup Golden Boot may already be out of reach.

Emphasis on the term ‘may’. Messi is capable of anything.

Gerrard on Messi and Ronaldo

In the long running Messi v Ronaldo debate, there may be a number of fans switching to Team Ronaldo.

But Steven Gerrard isn’t one of them.

The Liverpool legend broke down the La Liga stars on Robbie Savage’s podcast.

“They’re very different for me,” Gerrard said.

“I think they’re both operating on a different planet to every footballer that’s ever lived, probably besides your Peles and your Maradonas.

“But Messi for me is more of a team player.

“If he’s in on goal he’ll look for a pass as well as obviously posting really, really good numbers individually as well."

Gerrard added: “Ronaldo for me is more individual. He’s hungry for goals, he’s a little bit more selfish, whether that be in a good way or a bad way and obviously the profile of the players is very different in terms of size.

“I think they’re different in many ways but what I will say to them, and the biggest compliment I can give them, is they’re operating on a different planet than any other footballer out there at the moment.”