Flip

Guardiola is getting buttfucked in the CL for the second season running having inherited a ridiculously good Bayern side. Lets be honest even Heynckes team would be buttfucked by this Barcelona side. Neymar is their third best striker and has 37goals this season, more than any other partner Messi has had in a season.

Beckenbauers take on it. http://www.goal.com/en/news/1716/champions-league/2015/05/12/11665102/beckenbauer-messi-is-the-best-in-the-world-but-peles-still

Conjo got some grief, but he was right all along Grief was deserved though, it was only October and we would have been safe without the best coach in the world stepping in I don't think we'd have been safe with Pardew at all. I think we could've easily been in as much trouble. Who says we wouldn't go on one of those crazy long runs of not winning a game under Pardew?

Conjo got some grief, but he was right all along

Verratti and Busquets would be a bit too much in my opinion. Other teams wouldn't see the ball like the Barcelona under Pep. Not fair.

Which side are the players on?

That's just an insane amount of money.

Nah, I think you are for once explaining yourself correctly. Well done. Seriously though, I absolutely agree with your sentiment. No one is saying he doesn't perform in big games, it's just a matter of how many of them has he performed in compared to players as Messi? How much can he really impose his playing style like the others?

That f***ing fall. Can't stop laughing. Poor Boateng. First it was David Luiz vs Suarez, now Boateng vs Messi. Who's next Varane/Ramos/Pepe or Bonucci/Chiellini

You're gonna make me feel dirty for defending Cristiano f***ing Ronaldo, but look at the past two games (Sevilla and Juve) and see who scored the goals that are keeping Real Madrid both in La Liga and the CL. Yeah, he doesn't have a good photo in a CL final like Messi does (except looking like a c*** showing off his muscles), but he's saved his team in some clutch moments. If he missed the one against Juve, where he btw for the rest of hte game was as invisible as Bale he should've been slaughtered. I can think of other domestic big games (Clásicos, mainly) where he's delivered the goods, but I'm gonna defer this to Froggy. Like f*** I'm going to keep defending Real Madrid players. Like I said, well aware of him turning up at the big stage plenty of times, but he doesn't do that near the same amount as the other three which is what I base my ratings on.

No. The Pep version was amazing. This version has more individual skill and it's faster, but the Pep version at their best was the best I've ever seen. Agree. This team is in my opinion more fun, because it's more direct. But Peps team would beat this one.

That fucking fall. Can't stop laughing.

What is bollocks? Teams did man mark him especially in the Serie A back at Juventus when Juventus didn't even have the ball because they knew he could do stuff with the ball as soon as he got it. It's the same as Messi, they try to stop the ball from reaching him as much as possible.

You're gonna make me feel dirty for defending Cristiano f***ing Ronaldo, but look at the past two games (Sevilla and Juve) and see who scored the goals that are keeping Real Madrid both in La Liga and the CL. Yeah, he doesn't have a good photo in a CL final like Messi does (except looking like a c*** showing off his muscles), but he's saved his team in some clutch moments. If he missed the one against Juve, where he btw for the rest of hte game was as invisible as Bale he should've been slaughtered.

Zidane didn't need space? I think you're wearing some rose-tinted glasses there mind. He didn't. I don't know what this forum has against Zidane, but Zidane created space by himself. He was overcrowded in midfield so much, he had usually a opposition player man marking him when their team had the ball.

In terms of footballing ability there's no way that Messi is ''just'' better. He's on another planet, god damn it.

Like I said he scored many and he does contribute in many big games, but not near enough the amount of what Messi and Zidane or the real Ronaldo did.

Very good footballer, but not in the top echelon. Fair enough, I can't imagine rating a player based on what he does against Cordoba or Granada or Getafe for that sake though. CRonaldo doesn't perform nearly close to what Messi and Zidane did in big game, he disappears way too easily for my liking. The other impose themselves in big games. Yet every other player plays against Córdoba and Getafe (or Burnley or Cagliari or whatever) and only those two have that kind of impact. They are the best in the world every game; the year we had Ronaldo is the only other time when I have seen a player being so consistently dominant. Agree to disagree Messi is the only player who has done enough of both from the ones I've seen though.

Tbf he does dive more than anyone I've seen. Slightest of touches from behind and he'll throw himself. Sometimes it's annoying because when he stays on his feet he usually outbalances players, but in dangerous areas he's just trying to get free-kicks which isnj't always the best decision.

Senna is playing with Raul for the NY Cosmos if I'm not mistaken. Think I read that the other day. Could easily google, but I'll trust my memory on this one.

Fair enough, I can't imagine rating a player based on what he does against Cordoba or Granada or Getafe for that sake though. CRonaldo doesn't perform nearly close to what Messi and Zidane did in big game, he disappears way too easily for my liking. The other impose themselves in big games.

Yeah I don't agree on that. For me, in terms of sheer consistency against shittier teams maybe not, but big players make names for themselves in big games. Zidane won a World Cup final, a CL final and carried a pretty average French side to another World Cup final. Only player I can see carrying his team through moments like that is Messi. Xavi and Iniesta for all they've achieved had each other and also Busquets and Xabi Alonso as well as Senna in 2008. Three of them are probably three of the greatest midfielders Spain has had. They all played together, they all fit into a system. Zidane changed between systems and was superior in big games.

Very easy. A guy I know got tickets to the game yesterday a day before from the Barcelona website.

f*** off. Go give CRonaldo a blowie there isn't a huge gap between the two. That's all I said. But there is. There's a gap in history of about 20 players between both. (21 between Pele and CRonaldo ) I'm one that thinks there's a big gap between the two of them, but I'd struggle to put 5 players ahead of CRonaldo from my life time, let alone 20. How old are you again? Was just taking the piss with Froggy. In my lifetime Zidane, real Ronaldo and Messi are above CRonaldo in terms of footballing ability. Although I really don't see this Cristiano everyone talks about, every time I see Real he's at the end of plays scoring goals and but he just lacks something which players like Zidane, Ronaldo and Messi had. He lacks this pure magic. It's my opinion obviously, but there's something about his game that for me doesn't translate into what the others did. It's a personal preference to natural ability probably. He's a machine and I won't take that away from him and has deserved the Ballon d'Or he has won. 2nd best player of his generation and also by a large margin. But, I know CRonaldo scores in a lot of big games and his stats in the El Clasico is excellent, but he doesn't do nearly as much as the others did in big games. He doesn't contribute regurarly like the others do/did in the most important games such as the CL final last year or against Juve the other night. He will always be scoring goals for fun, but I want more from a guy to be considered a top 5 footballer of all times.