Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) star has described legendary strikers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in one word. Read on to find out what the Brazilian had to say:
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the greatest footballers to have played the sport in this era. Although the Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) strikers are undergoing a challenging phase in their respective club careers, there's no denying that the two have left a lasting impact on the sport. And now Brazilian forward Neymar has described the two iconic footballers in one word.
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In an interview with DANZ, PSG star Neymar was asked to describe Ronaldo and Messi using just one word. The sensational forward labelled the two long-time rivals as "GENIUS". The Argentine is a seven-time Ballon d'Or winner with four European titles under his belt, while the Portuguese talisman has five Ballon d'Ors and five Champions League titles.
Neymar and Messi, who currently play together for PSG, also enjoyed a successful stint at Barcelona. The pair won the Champions League once alongside the La Liga title twice. During his tenure at Camp Nou, the Brazilian scored 105 goals and provided 76 assists, while the Argentine rose to become widely regarded as the greatest player to ever play in Catalonia. During his 16 seasons at Barcelona, Messi scored an astonishing 672 goals and 303 assists in 778 matches.
Meanwhile, Neymar also described three other strikers in world football today in one word. The Brazilian labelled Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane as 'Intelligent', Real Madrid's Karim Benzema as 'Classic', and his former Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez' Genius'.
The PSG star has struck stellar form this season and has also described five of football's future stars. Neymar believes Jude Bellingham has 'quality', while for Pedri he said, "I like this one… Classic. He reminds me of [Andres] Iniesta." For Nuno Mendes, the 30-year-old said, "I've got a lot I could say about Nuno! Strength." Meanwhile, for Jamal Musiala and Eduardo Camavinga, Neymar had only one word - 'Quality'. He added," "They're all quality. They're strong and quick. Talented. Quality is a mix of all of them."
Neymar also stated that the most formidable defender he has ever faced one-on-one is Kyle Walker, who the Brazilian believes is fast, strong and intelligent. The PSG star was then asked to give his thoughts on five of the world's best defenders – except this time, he went into a little more detail.
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Neymar praised Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk stating: "Playing against Van Dijk is tough because as a centre-back, he's so strong and intelligent. He knows when it's the right time to close you down and when to go in for a tackle. That makes it harder. It's harder to play against intelligent centre-backs. They don't make mistakes."
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Meanwhile, for Manchester City's Ruben Dias, the Brazilian forward said, "He is a very good centre-back. He's quick and strong. He has quality as well, so that makes it hard to play against him." For Chelsea's new recruit, Kalidou Koulibaly, Neymar said, "The same. He's quick and very strong."
Manchester United's Raphael Varane too received praises from Neymar. The Brazilian star said, "I've played against Varane many times. He's a very good centre-back. He's quick and intelligent. His positioning is very good. He's a top player. He almost never gets it wrong. That's why he's won so much."
Lastly, former Chelsea star and Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger got a thumbs up from Neymar. "I like Rudiger. He's a centre-back who strikes fear into you. He's very strong and big! Some forwards get a bit scared. I don't, but I think many forwards do get a bit scared!" the Brazilian icon concluded.