These 5 Stars Made Lionel Messi’s List Of Best Players As He Excluded Cristiano Ronaldo And Himself: Report

Lionel Messi has revealed the names of five soccer players, who according to him are the best at present, while he was asked to exclude himself and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi, in a recent interview, has admitted that even though it was tough to watch Ronaldo win titles with Real Madrid, he considers the Portuguese great among the top two players alongside himself.

“It was nice to have Cristiano Ronaldo in La Liga because of the prestige he gave him, although it was hard to see him raise titles,” the FC Barcelona skipper said, as reported by Sport Bible via Marca.

As Messi eliminated Ronaldo and his name, he went on to name the top five players he considers best. The list, not surprisingly, had Neymar’s name and the other four players being fellow Argentinean Sergio Aguera, FIFA World Cup 2018 winner, Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard and Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez.

“[But] excluding him and me, the best players in the world are Mbappe, Neymar, Hazard, Suarez and Kun [Aguero],” Messi said.

The trio of Messi, Suarez and Neymar formed Barcelona’s famous "MSN" front three as the attacking troika helped the Catalans win the treble in 2015.

Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the world of soccer for over a decade now. The soccer legends share 11 Ballon d’Or awards between each other after Messi edged his rival to win a record sixth award last year.

Ronaldo and Messi’s renowned rivalry sparkled between 2009 and 2018 when Ronaldo was a part of Real Madrid. Ahead of the 2009-10 season, Ronaldo moved from Manchester United to Madrid.

From 438 appearances for Real Madrid, across all competitions, Ronaldo netted 455 goals and helped the side win 15 titles including four Champions League trophies. The extraordinary association ended when the Portuguese skipper decided to move to Italy to join Juventus ahead of the 2018-19 season.

Even though Messi and Ronaldo now play in two different countries and leagues, they continue to compete against each other and their rivalry still brings the best out of the two.