He'd have got to be average while injured in finals if he actually got there with a much better team. Does having the best team of all time ring a bell???? Does having the best front 3 any team will ever have ring a bell? Where were the 4 Champions League titles then? Hell, where the hell were the finals? How come the best player of all time has spent 10-15 years at Barcelona, had the best team any superstar can hope for and managed to only play 3 Champions League finals in his entire career while winning feck all with his country? If Messi could have done half as much with the best team of all time around him than Ronaldo did with a pretty good team around him I wouldn't even hold it against him.
Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Puyol were winning the Champions League with Messi and fecking off in the summer to dominate international football as they pleased. Marcelo, Ramos, Kroos and Modric without Ronaldo get one humiliation after the other. But no... Ronaldo was the lucky one for playing with Toni fecking Kroos? Are you mad?
Still not as bad as the biggest lie ever told in this sport though... the MSN vs BBC rivalry. That was one beautiful. Somehow that was made to seem as if they were standing on even ground too.
Heavy favourites? Were they feck, do you know what being a heavy favourite is? Barca had a midfield of Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta while United were crying over Darren Fletcher's suspension.
https://www.oddsportal.com/soccer/europe/champions-league-2008-2009/results/
You don't have a clue what you're talking about. Messi had a better team around him than Ronaldo for at the very least 95% of his entire career. And his contribution in big titles pales in comparison.
Best midfield in the world... You should be embarassed to keep that up.
The midfield that was getting spanked around by Barcelona's midfield every single time they met was the best midfield in the world? Were they feck. How great was Real Madrid's squad, it was perfect, two incredible fullbacks, the best centreback of the generation, the best midfield in the world.. Propaganda bollocks for years... where are they now? One year where they were the best midfield in the world. ONE. 2016-17. And they needed an in form Isco in there to overcrowd it.
If Rakitic had been playing next to Ronaldo he'd have won the Ballon D'Or last year. Wasn't any worse than Modric in 2018 but the media doesn't quite work that way. Didn't take long for everything to change though did it? Turns out Cancelo might be the best fullback in the world instead of Marcelo too.
I won't fight who had the better team, that's like starting the Vietnam war against you.
But you do know that Xavi, Iniesta and Puyol existed before 2009 and their trophy cabinet was abyssmal, right?.
Xavi from 98 to 08: 10 seasons, 3 La Liga titles, 1 UCL.
Xavi from 09 to 15: 7 seasons, 5 La Liga titles, 3 UCL, 3 Spanish Cups.
Puyol 99 to 08: 9 seasons, 2 La Liga, 1 UCL.
Puyol 08 to 14: 6 seasons, 4 La Liga, 2 UCL, 2 Cups.
Iniesta 02 to 08: 6 seasons, 2 La Liga, 1 UCL.
Iniesta 08 to 18: 10 seasons, 7 La Liga, 3 UCL, 6 Cups.
You don't see an increase in their silverware since a certain someone became the star, right?
And an extra point, to add perspective
Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Villa, Puyol were winning the Champions League with Messi and fecking off in the summer to dominate international football as they pleased. Marcelo, Ramos, Kroos and Modric without Ronaldo get one humiliation after the other.
Ramos, Casillas, Xabi Alonso, Varane, Modric, Kroos, Khedira were winning the Champions League with Ronaldo and fecking off in the summer to dominate international football as they pleased. Bravo, Valdes, Pedro, Villa, Rafinha, Thiago, Bojan, Tello, Fabregas, Alexis without Messi get one humiliation after the other.
Spanish has been nothing but horrid in big tournaments since 2012, we're in
2019, two world cups and an Euro have passed since then and Pique, Busquets, Iniesta and Alba have done nothing.
2018 WC dream team: Marcelo, Varane, Modric vs... Coutinho
2014 WC dream team: Marcelo, Kroos, James, Di Maria vs... Neymar
2016 EC TOTT: Pepe and Kroos vs... no one.
Yup, use that logic more, please