'Reality is in the numbers' - Angel Di Maria responds to Cristiano Ronaldo's GOAT claim as Argentine insists Lionel Messi is the 'best in the world and the best in history'

Di Maria is one of the few players who have had the privilege of calling both Ronaldo and Messi his team-mates. The Argentine winger played with the Portugal international from 2010 to 2014 at Real Madrid and the duo helped Los Blancos achieve their long-awaited 10th Champions League trophy, La Decima, before Di Maria left the club after the 2014 World Cup. On the other hand, Di Maria has played with Messi since the pair were youths and the two were team-mates for Argentina before the winger called time on his career with La Albiceleste; having won three trophies, including the 2022 World Cup.

Di Maria has now responded to Ronaldo's claims that he is the best player in the history of football after saying he believed there is 'no one better'. The 36-year-old was not surprised to hear Ronaldo's claims but believes that Messi's numbers speak for themselves and make it clear the Argentine is the best ever.

In an interview with InfoBae for their series 'Mi Seleccion', Di Maria was asked about Ronaldo's claims and said: "I'm not surprised, I was with him [Ronaldo] for four years. It was always like that. He always made those statements, he always tried to be the best, but well, he was born in a generation, just at a bad time, because another one was born who was touched by the magic wand [Messi].

"The reality is shown in numbers. One has eight Ballons d'Or, the other five. There is a very big difference. Being a world champion is another very big difference, having two Copa Americas. There are many differences, many. And then you see him in the games, you see it in every minute of every game, that one plays as if he were in the backyard. He hits the same goal as always and keeps doing it. And he's been doing it for 18, 20 years.

"How long has he been doing the same thing? And everyone says, 'but you already know what he’s going to do,' well, go mark him and he’ll do it anyway and he’ll still be 40 years old and still do tiki-taka, tiki-taka. That’s how it is. But, well, Cristiano is like that too. He always made statements that way. It was always the same.

"For me, Leo [Messi] is the best in the world and the best in history, without a doubt."

The Argentine is currently playing with Benfica and has now retired from international duty, meaning he will likely never have the opportunity to share the field with Messi again. However, when he was asked if he desired to play with Messi for a final team he said the only way would be to convince him to join Benfica or head to Inter Miami.

He said: "Yes, it would be the only way. The final wasn't nice, because even though we won, on the other hand it was a piece of sh*t that Leo got injured in the match and then was out for all that time. When he asked to come off, and he fell by himself, I realized that he had messed up, because otherwise it's impossible. He always has some discomfort or something, he always keeps going, always keeps going. He never lets you down. So when that happened, I realized that I was screwed.

"It was an ugly moment, for me it was the last Copa America. And for him too, because now the World Cup is coming, but it was our last Copa America."