Sir Alex Ferguson cannot separate Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

25 May 2009 10:26
Manchester United forward Ronaldo enjoyed a clean sweep of the world and European player of the year awards for 2008 after scoring 42 goals as Ferguson's men lifted the Premier League and Champions League last season. But Argentine playmaker Messi is breathing down Ronaldo's neck having inspired Pep Guardiola's Barca to a league and cup double in Spain. Victory over United in Rome will secure a treble for Messi and Barca, but although Ferguson admits that Ronaldo and Messi are two of the leading players of their generation, he concedes that he cannot put one ahead of the other. Ferguson said: "They're both good players. Ronaldo is stronger and older, but now Messi has started to develop himself physically. His upper body is much stronger now. "When Ronaldo was 18, he had a fantastic profile as a footballer and an athlete and that's one of the main differences. "But they're both fantastic players who can create and score goals, both of them. When great players get to that level, it's all about the small details. "One of them could have an off-night on the night. Other than that, what can you say about such good players?" French defender Patrice Evra is set to be deployed against Messi in the Stadio Olimpico having shackled the Barcelona star during last season's semi-final. And Ferguson is backing Evra's pace and experience to give Messi another difficult night in the Italian capital. He said: "When we played Barcelona in the semi-finals last year we had to depend on Patrice Evra to deal with Messi and we're going to depend on him again. "Patrice is a fantastic footballer, so quick, and you need that against Messi because he's so fast himself. "There were occasions last year in the game at Old Trafford when there was nothing we could do when he attacks players. You just had to give him credit. "With Messi you hope for a bit of luck or that he makes a bad pass or falls over the ball or something, anything, because he's so good at these things. "We have to plan against a lot of things. Barcelona have got so many good players you can't rely on one player to do a job against Messi. "By Wednesday we will have our game plan well and truly fixed. We'll know where we're going and the experience of playing against them last year will help us." United are due to fly to Rome later today, with Rio Ferdinand due to jet out having trained for the last two days. Rafael da Silva and Wes Brown are both expected to be passed fit after suffering minor knocks during Sunday's 1-0 win at Hull City.

Source: Telegraph