Messi Better Than Ronaldo And Robben - Capello

Fabio Capello believes that Lionel Messi is Diego Maradona's rightful successor and thinks that the Barcelona star is a better player than either Cristiano Ronaldo or Arjen Robben.

The England head coach expressed his admiration for the Argentinian forward and thinks that the Albiceleste have at last found a player that can be called Maradona's heir.

Messi has earned universal praise as his form has continued to improve even more this season for Barcelona and Capello was full of praise for the player.

"He can do incredible things and is an exceptional player," Sport quote him as saying. "He is Maradona's successor."

Ronaldo swept the board of individual prizes for 2008 while Robben is standing out at Madrid, but Capello thinks that neither of them is as naturally gifted as Messi.

"The two of them are great players, but nobody in the world has the talent that Messi has," he added.

Capello is a fan of Barcelona's short passing game and is confident that they will beat Olympique Lyonnais in the next round of the Champions League, but will then be tested after that.

"They are playing well, with their traditional style. They pass the ball around well because they have the players for that," he continued. "They are a very good team, but if they are the best or not I do not know.

"I think that Barca will progress to the next round [of the Champions League], but after that each tie will be very even."

Lucas Brown, Goal.com