Sergio Ramos is one of the few footballers fortunate to have played with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Ramos struck up an unlikely bromance with Messi at PSG.
The Spanish defender enjoyed more success playing alongside Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
Sergio Ramos made his final decision on the GOAT (Greatest of all Time) debate after playing with both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The thought of Ramos and Messi ever playing together would have sounded fanciful in the extreme several years ago. The pair battled it out for over a decade during their hugely successful spells with Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively.
Messi often found himself on the receiving end of some brutal treatment from Ramos, who has been sent off more times than any other footballer in the history of Europe’s top five leagues. Despite that, Messi regularly got the better of the Spaniard. No player has scored more goals in the history of El Clasico than the legendary Argentine forward.
Ramos left Madrid for Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent in July 2021. Like the rest of the world, the Spanish defender was shocked when Barca icon Messi joined him at the Parc des Princes one month later. Many football fans understandably expected the relationship between the pair would remain, at best, frosty. But the superstars quickly put any differences to one side and ended up forming an unexpected bromance on the pitch.
Before that, though, he had spent a large portion of his career playing with Messi’s greatest rival, Ronaldo. Throughout their careers, the Argentine and Portuguese superstars have been compared repeatedly. The debate over which player is the greatest of all time has raged on for almost two decades and will likely continue for many more to come. Having played with both men, though, Ramos had his say on who he ultimately thought was the best ever.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two of the greatest goalscorers in the history of football, and here’s how the duo scored their goals.
Ramos Selected His GOAT
After spending almost two years training and playing alongside Messi, Ramos described the South American as the greatest footballer in history. In an interview with PSG TV, per Goal, the defender admitted that he thought the former Barcelona man is the best footballer of all time. Coming from a former Real Madrid man, this was quite a surprise. Ramos said:
“There was suffering for several years playing against Messi. I am now enjoying him.
“He is the best player football has ever produced.”
Yep, it seems Ramos made up his mind and reached the conclusion that Messi is the GOAT. This comes despite the Spaniard spending almost a decade playing alongside Ronaldo at Real Madrid. The pair won pretty much everything there was to win at club level together with Los Blancos, but all it took was two years with Messi in France for Ramos’ opinion on who was the best player of all time to be solidified.
As Barcelona’s record goalscorer, La Liga’s record goalscorer, Argentina’s record goalscorer, and likely soon the Inter Miami record goalscorer, Messi has been phenomenal seemingly from the get-go in his career. He’s been destroying teams for 20 years now, and it’s not hard to see why Ramos believes he’s the best – even though Ronaldo certainly has a case himself.
Sergio Ramos’ stats with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Years played together
Games
Points per game
Joint goal participation
Minutes
With Cristiano Ronaldo
2009-2018
339
2.27
15
28,441
With Lionel Messi
2021-2023
46
2.30
2
6,672
Messi and Ronaldo Are Both Legends
While Ramos’s comments probably hurt Ronaldo, in particular, the centre-back was merely echoing the opinion of many other football fans after the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner lifted the World Cup with Argentina in December 2022. Messi has now won everything in football and has nothing more to prove to anybody as he approaches the winter of his extraordinary playing career.
Messi knows that regardless of whatever else he achieves between now and the day he retires, his status as one of the greatest players, if not the greatest, of all time, is safely secured.
Ronaldo has his own fans, though, and there are many out there who believe that the former Manchester United star is actually the best footballer in the history of the game. It’s easy to see why, too, with the 40-year-old still operating at an exceptional level.
The period of time when the two stars went head-to-head in La Liga, with Barcelona and Real Madrid trading wins in El Clasico and fighting for dominance over Spain, will go down as some of the most exhilarating years in football history. Watching two players at such incredible levels compete in the manner in which they did was like something we’d never seen before.
Regardless of who is ultimately the greatest of all time, there’s no doubt that these two are in a conversation above the vast majority to ever lace up a pair of boots.
Ramos Snubbed Messi and Ronaldo When Naming His Toughest Opponent
“For me, the most unstoppable is Ronaldinho. In his best time, hardly any defender could face him.”
He also spoke about some other players he respected as tricky opponents, adding: “But there are others like Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who could cause problems with their speed or physicality.” It’s fair to say Ramos has come up against some brilliant players over the years. That he is still held in such high esteem only goes to prove just how good he was.
Statistics in this article are courtesy of Transfermarkt. Correct as of 06-04-26.
A football fan has spoken out after having his US visa revoked just an hour before his flight to the World Cup was due to take off. This week, issues around entry to the host nation have become a hot topic, with concerns spreading like wildfire, despite Gianni Infantino’s insistence just a handful of months ago that “everyone will be welcomed to the USA” – a sentiment later echoed by Donald Trump.
Switzerland striker Breel Embolo was among the first to run into difficulties with border control, being turned away at the start of June while his teammates travelled without him. Meanwhile, Iran’s head coach was briefly held by border authorities, while Somalian referee Omar Artan was denied entry outright and sent back to Africa, before he had the cance to become the first official from his country to referee at a World Cup, amid fears over alleged links to a terrorist organisation.
But while these are the high-profile cases linked to the host nation’s strict tourism policies, there are many more going under the radar – including ordinary football fans who have spent thousands in the hope of seeing their country play on the world stage.
Despite having a visa, he was ‘denied entry’ by immigration authorities.
Scotland Fan Has US Visa Revoked an Hour Before Flight
Michael Wright had been due to head off to the States for a dream 30th birthday trip with his brother and had tickets for Scotland’s group stage games against Haiti and Morocco. But he ended up having to send his brother through the security gates at Manchester Airport on his own when his visa status switched from “approved” to “pending” and finally to “travel not authorised”.
The Tartan Army member, who is from Greenock but now lives in Australia, said: “I don’t think I’ve ever felt that bad. I sent my brother through security because I still wanted him to go and enjoy his holiday. And I didn’t want him to see me ready to break down.” Michael told the BBC he could think of “no valid reason” for the change in his visa status and the US authorities had not given him one.
“In my eyes, there’s no valid reason for them to decline it. I live in what most people would say is the second hardest country in the world to get a visa. I’ve been living there nearly 10 years, reapplying for visas and completing police checks. They (the US authorities) granted it originally so I’m not sure why they’ve decided to look back into it.”
UK Visa Restrictions for USA Entry
Andrew Couldridge via Reuters
UK citizens who want to go to the United States for up to 90 days without a visa need to apply to the country’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). But dozens of fans who filled out the form have said on social media that their application status had changed in the days leading up to the World Cup kicking off on Thursday evening with Mexico vs South Africa.
Some supporters have now been told to make last-minute trips to the US Consulate in Belfast to secure approval of their visas. First Minister John Swinney said he had contacted US officials over the issue and would do “all I can to help” those affected. He said: “I have asked officials to convey our hope that they can resolve this so that Scotland’s fans do not miss out.”
Acting assistant secretary of US Homeland Security, Lauren Bis, previously told the BBC that the tightening of granting ESTAs was because “the Trump administration is enforcing immigration laws. Under the Visa Waiver Program, all ESTA applications are continuously vetted against law enforcement and security databases,” she said. “Travellers must provide complete and truthful information, including all criminal history.”
Michael Wright said the late U-turn had left him feeling “very raw” – as well as thousands of pounds out of pocket. He said: “You’re talking about £4,500 to £5,000 and the only thing I’m ever going to get the money back on is the match tickets. But at this point, I don’t even want to take the money back on them – I’ll probably just give them away.”
Leeds United are set to be active in the summer transfer window, and have lined up a record-breaking move for one star, according to recent reports.
Daniel Farke‘s side enjoyed a successful season last time out, recovering from a rocky start to secure Premier League survival with relative ease in the end.
The Elland Road faithful will be hoping that relegation won’t even be a factor next season, with a strong summer transfer window that could add even more quality and depth to the team.
Several key areas appear to be in focus, but it’s the defence that Leeds appear to be working hardest at recruiting for this summer, as an offer is already being lined up for a target.
It’s stated that the Whites are willing to go to the “extremes” to get a deal over the line, while proposing an offer that would smash their record fee for a signing.
That currently sits at roughly £36 million, which was paid to sign Georginio Rutter from Hoffenheim back in January 2023, a move that had mixed reviews come the end.
An offer worth €50 million (£43.1 million) could be on offer from Leeds to Sporting CP to get a deal over the line, with that figure including eventual bonuses reached.
It’s a rough figure that the Portuguese side are willing to start negotiations on, though it remains to be seen whether the structure of the deal needs to be changed to reach an eventual agreement.
Any move could prove tough, especially as Diomande is away on international duty with the Ivory Coast for the upcoming 2026 World Cup, but Leeds seem open to trying for a deal.
You scored
out of 20
Leeds Centre-Back Contract Dilemma
The arrival of Diomande could bring Leeds some quality in the backline, with the centre-back being described as “phenomenal” in his career so far.
While that comes with experience and even some room to grow for the 22-year-old, his signing will bring some questions surrounding the other centre-backs at Elland Road.
Particularly when it comes to the contract situations of Pascal Struijk and Joe Rodon in particular. The former has just one year remaining on his current deal, while the latter has two left on his.
The pair have been incredibly important for the Whites under Farke in recent seasons, but the arrival of Diomande could shake that up once again.
That may make them reconsider their positions with contracts, with a dilemma over whether the club should offer them better terms or not in the coming months.
Everton have been ordered to pay an English club a staggering £40 million after The Toffees lost a legal battle over PSR issues this week, with the Premier League continuing to haunt them.
Wednesday afternoon’s ruling is an unprecedented legal punishment, just three years after the Merseysiders were handed a 10-point deduction by the Premier League in 2023 after falling foul of regulations in the 2021-22 season.
The punishment was then reduced to six points on appeal at the start of 2024. However, the knock-on effect has continued well beyond then, with the ‘what ifs’ of Sean Dyche’s team of that time now having been taken to court by one club it affected more than the Toffees themselves.
Burnley argued, as per The Sun, that if the points’ deduction happened in 2022 – the year they were relegated – Everton would have gone down instead, leading to further retrospective punishment this week.
Everton finished 16th in the 2021-22 season after picking up 39 points – leaving them just points clear of 18th-placed Burnley. The Clarets believe they missed out on millions as a result of going down a division and the case has now gone in their favour.
