Former Spain coach, Javier Clemente has weighed in on the long-standing debate about who is the better player between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Spaniard opined that the Barcelona talisman is better than his Portuguese rival adding that the latter should be  “happy and proud to be second.” 

 Speaking to Cadena Ser (h/t Sacha Pisani of Goal), Clemente claimed, “Messi is ahead of everyone. He does different things and the sum of those parts lifts him to first place. Cristiano should be happy and proud to be second in the word. Cristiano has better abdominals, a height advantage, and he headers better. There are thing that Cristiano does better, but Messi beats him in technique, ability and vision, and that’s that. He should be happy and proud to be second in the word, there’s no more noble thing in sport to recognize the quality of your rivals.”