Manchester: Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes has spoken about the never-ending Lionel Messi versus Cristiano Ronaldo conflict ending it up with a brilliant verdict. The 45-year-old had an illustrious career at the Old Trafford and has played with some of the big names during his career.
He spent six years with Ronaldo at Manchester United and has rubbed shoulders alongside Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Ronaldo (Brazil) but considered the Barcelona talisman above all, and tipped him to be the best player ever to play the game.
“It was a moment I will never forget. He went past me, I stuck out my leg and Lionel Messi went over. This was at Old Trafford in 2008 in the second leg of our Champions League semifinal against Barcelona and, with the score 1-0 to us, I had fouled him in our area,” Scholes explained.
“When I think about our win over Barcelona in that game, on our way to the second Champions League title of the Sir Alex Ferguson era, I always remember that tackle. Yes, I scored the only goal of the tie, and it was one of my better ones. But I will never forget that couple of seconds when the best footballer in the world deceived me into fouling him and I waited for the world to fall in.
“It should have been a penalty to Barcelona, and an away goal would have won them the tie. But for some reason the referee didn’t give it, the game moved on and even Messi did not make much of a fuss. The relief was overwhelming for a few moments — and then I was back into the game,” he recalled.
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