Nadal : Messi is the greatest Footballer

Former Barcelona defender Miguel Angel Nadal has stated that Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is no match for Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi. Nadal also claimed that Real Madrid are a good side, but lack of depth in their squad was the reason for their failures last season.

Messi was in majestic form in the second half of last season, helping Barcelona to a historic treble in 2014-15. Although Ronaldo found the net more often than Messi, Nadal insisted that the 28-year-old Argentine is the World’s Greatest Footballer.

“Barcelona have a great team with one special player, Messi. He is able to unlock a game from out of nowhere,” Nadal said in an interview to Goal. “Cristiano Ronaldo has been putting in spectacular performances, but there really is no comparison with Messi. He is on another level than all the other players. He is the undisputed best. No player has the ability to do what he does.”

The former Spain international was quick to say that Madrid will pose the biggest threat to Barcelona’s title defence in 2015-16. But Nadal said that a team of Madrid’s stature should have more bench strength, after the team failed to find crucial replacements for the injured first team players during the last campaign.

“Madrid and Barcelona are always challenging for any trophy. Real have a great squad, plus they have Ronaldo,” Nadal continued. “They started last season very strong, but injuries hurt them in the end. A great team like Madrid should have more strength in depth. When someone like Luka Modric gets injured, you should have an adequate replacement.”

Los Blancos suffered a huge dip in form, after important players like Sergio Ramos, James Rodriguez, Pepe, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, and the most important of them, Luka Modric suffered from long-term injuries.