Roberto Carlos ‘lucky’ he didn’t face ‘new Maradona’ Lionel Messi very often – with Real Madrid legend revealing when he knew Barcelona icon would be ‘best player in the world’

The Brazilian full-back was on the Blancos’ books when another Argentina superstar was breaking onto a senior stage at Barcelona. Carlos left Spain in 2007, but that was long enough to get a good look at Messi and the South American’s obvious potential.

It was 2008-09 before Messi became a prolific presence for Barca, as he broke the 30-goal barrier for the fist time, but Carlos – along with fellow World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro – had already come to the conclusion that the now eight-time Ballon d’Or winner would become the best player on the planet.

Madrid icon Carlos has told 90min of his limited experience trying to contain one of the most elusive players to have ever laced up a pair of boots: “When Messi dribbled past Cannavaro and me and ran over us and the match ended, I turned to Cannavaro and said: ‘My God, who is this player? He’s the new Maradona.’ I’m lucky, I didn’t have much time left before I retired, how would the next generation of defenders cope? They’ll really struggle with him. I knew he’d be the best player in the world. In the future, he would win everything and I’m happy because I watched him more than I played against him.”

Messi lined up against Cannavaro and Carlos in a 2006 clash at the Bernabeu that Real won 2-0. He posed plenty of problems that day, though, and was well on course to become a performer that now sits comfortably at the top of many GOAT lists.