Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? Epic answer by KP Boateng in 2017 may never be topped

The Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate will rage on for decades to come.

While the eventual retirements of the Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United stars might finalise their career statistics, that doesn't mean thats fans will all reach a mutual agreement.

The simple fact of the matter is that 'Messi vs Ronaldo' is an entirely unique phenomena because never before have two male footballers of such astronomical quality shared the same era.

Plus, the two Ballon d'Or winners seem to represent two entirely different arms of appreciation for football with Ronaldo standing as a bastion of hard work and Messi enduring as a beacon of talent.

The truth is that Messi has put in tonnes of hard work in the same way that Ronaldo has talent on his side, too, but this balance nevertheless beats through the very heart of the debate.

As such, while thousands and thousands of footballers have given their opinion on the Messi vs Ronaldo debate, we feel pretty confident that few have matched Kevin-Prince Boateng's response.

As random as that might sound, the former AC Milan midfielder's answer to the debate in 2018 sticks in our mind as one of the finest distillations of what makes the two players so special.

According to Marca, Boateng explained in an interview with SPOX: "For young people who are football players, Ronaldo should be the best in the world.

"He is the best example to look at because he trains to the fullest and has talent. He works like a madman, he is passionate with everything he does and about football.

"He always wants to be the best. He always wants to be first in everything, so, for a player who is just starting, the one to look at should be him because he is perfect.

"Ronaldo makes all of this happen in