Cristiano Ronaldo 'obsessed' with bettering Lionel Messi claims Ryan Giggs

No matter what level of football you watch or whatever team you support, everyone can agree that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the best players of all the time. Over the last decade we've seen the pair of them take their games to absolutely incredible heights which has seen them cement their place in history. These two are really once in a generation players but incredibly we've been treated to both of them at the same time, so saying we've been spoilt is an understatement.

From the outside looking in it's amazing to watch these two push each other to crazy new levels and the competitiveness between them must be sky high, no matter how much they try to play it down. Messi is regarded as the best ever by a lot of people and its clearly had an impact on his rival, who's been described as 'obsessed' with the Argentine by a former teammate.

Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs spent 6 years with Cristiano at Old Trafford and claimed that the 34 year-old was absolutely determined to prove that he's better than the Barcelona forward, which may have played a big part in his summer Juventus transfer. Despite approaching his mid-thirties, the five time Balon d'Or winner commanded a mega €100m transfer fee to move to Serie A and so far it's been a massive success with him hitting the back of the net 21 times in Italy.

Cristiano Ronaldo has played for some of the biggest clubs in world football and some of the best players, one of which is Ryan Giggs. The Welshmen was an important part of the Manchester United team alongside him at Old Trafford for 6 years where he got to see just what a special talent the famous no.7 is first hand. Some rank him as the best in the world ahead of Lionel Messi, but the outrageous statistics produced by the diminutive Argentine clearly weighed heavy on Ronaldo according to his former teammate. Last summer he chose to end his 9 year affiliation with Real Madrid by joining Juventus - a move which could've been influenced by Messi.

When speaking to ITV Sport the Wales head coach claimed 'He's obsessed with being better than Messi. He has that now that 'I did it in England, I did it in Spain, I'm going to do it in Italy... and I did it with Portugal.' But moving on was a big risk, especially after dominating so much in the Spanish capital and it's something that Giggs echoes. I'm surprised that he would leave Real Madrid and go to Italy. I think it's a big challenge for him but he's going to a huge club. Having that on your CV... Real Madrid, Man United and Juventus. It's some CV."

The Ronaldo transfer means that he can say that he's done it in some of the biggest leagues in the world, after his time with Manchester United (3x Premier League, 1x Champions League, 1x FA Cup) and Los Blancos (La Liga x2, Copa Del Rey x2, Champions League x4). As Giggs eludes, that is some CV and his start to life in Italy indicates that plenty more silverware will follow.

Lionel Messi's medal collection isn't exactly lacking but what Ronaldo has over him is that he has done it in other major leagues, along with achieving success with the national team. Ronaldo captained Portugal in their winning European Championships campaign 3 years ago, playing a pivotal role in their first ever major tournament victory. Messi is yet to win a trophy with Argentina but it's not through the lack of trying, with him losing in 3 Copa America finals and of course the 2014 World Cup final. So on that front, Ronaldo does appear to have an edge on him. Another thing he did hold over Messi was the hilarious Ronaldo statue back in his home, Madeira. It's since been replaced with a more lifelike representation of the Portugal skipper after a fantastic response on social media.

Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid departure has been something that's been rumoured for some time now but when it was confirmed last summer it really took everyone by surprise. It was the end of an era at the Santiago Bernabeu but the start of a new exciting one at the Allianz Stadium, with Juventus fans rejoicing. The clubs megastores were suddenly in huge demand for the famous 'Ronaldo 7' jersey which set all kinds of records after the transfer went through. His stats really speak for themselves but one thing that would've really caught the attention of the clubs hierarchy was his performance in their Champions League clash last season.

Los Blancos rolled out 3-0 winners in Turn with a sublime Ronaldo bicycle kick grabbing all of the headlines - going down as one of the competitions best ever strikes. The goal was that good that the Juventus fans stood up and applauded him, little did they know he'd be playing for them in a few months time. But again despite scoring that absolutely unbelievable goal, winning the Champions League five times and achieving success in different countries, he's still regarded by many as no.2 behind Lionel Messi.

His bid to revolutionise Juventus like he did Real may help his cause to be regarded as the best ever. He's made a superb start to life in Turin but again he's behind just one man in the goal standings in Europe - Lionel Messi. The Barcelona has 30 in all competitions as opposed to Ronaldo's 21 (which is still a superb return) and it's going to be an interesting race throughout the campaign to see who ends up winning the Golden Boot. These two are seemingly in a never ending battle to see who is the worlds best player and the consistency they're showing is something that's never seen before. Footballers generally tend to peak in their late 20's but these two now in their thirties are continuing to deliver blockbuster performances on a weekly basis - long may it continue.

But despite these two being miles ahead of any other footballers currently playing the game, neither won the Balon d'Or this year which went to Ronaldo's ex-Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric - meaning it wasn't a Messi vs Ronaldo tussle. The pair have both won the award five times apiece which is more than any other player and with them both starting to approach the home straight of their careers, they'll be equally desperate to get their hands on it.

This is one of the biggest and best debates in football, one that everyone has an opinion on. Despite both of them being tremendous players and goal scorers, they are very different as footballers. Physically, Cristiano Ronaldo is an absolute beast. He is lethal in the air, tall, strong and despite him being 34 years-old he's still pretty quick which makes him a nightmare to contain. Lionel Messi on the other hand, he has a low centre of gravity which means he's incredibly difficult to knock off the ball, combine that with pace, outrageously quick feet and tremendous vision, you pretty much have the perfect player on your hands.

Popular opinion is that Ronaldo is the 'better goalscorer', whilst Messi is the 'better footballer'. The Portugal legend has netted a fantastic 679 career goals whilst also contributing a total of 218 assists in just 947 apps totalling across his club and international career - a staggering contribution. His time in Spain with Real Madrid saw his most prolific spell where he ended as their all-time record scoring, netting an incredible 450 times in just 438 games - averaging more than a goal a game. All of these statistics are pretty mind-blowing which makes his 'obsession' with the Barcelona man all the more intriguing.

All of that makes incredible reading but how many goals has Messi scored? Well the Argentina man is also his clubs all-time record scorer, netting 582 goals in just 667 appearances and registering 226 assists for Barcelona, with 647 in 795 matches overall - 32 less goals than Ronaldo in 152 fewer outings. Messi is the better creator statistically speaking and he should end his playing career comfortably ahead of Ronaldo on goals scored. This is a debate that's likely to go on forever but in the meantime, while they're both still performing at an elite level it's important to enjoy them while we still have them.