Messi & Ronaldo: Lineker, Lampard & Ferdinand's iconic chat about the pair

Are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo the two greatest footballers of all time?

In the eyes of many who follow the world’s most popular sport, the answer to that question is ‘yes’.

The two superstars have broken records galore during the course of their spectacular careers, scoring a ridiculous number of goals and winning trophies aplenty.

What Messi and Ronaldo have done up until now will likely never be repeated and it’s been a privilege to watch them dominate football’s modern era.

And their undeniable greatness is highlighted by how fellow and ex-professionals speak about them.

Almost every single time one is asked for an opinion on Messi, Ronaldo or both, the person ends up waxing lyrical about them for a significant period of time in response.

Arguably the finest discussion about the pair conducted by ex-professionals came back in 2018 after Ronaldo’s iconic bicycle kick for Real Madrid in the Champions League against his former club Juventus.

In the BT Sport studio after that match in Turin, Gary Lineker, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard had one of the most riveting conversations about Messi and Ronaldo we’ve ever seen on live television.

Check it out in its entirety here…

Ferdinand started by saying: “Would they have been able to have kept this up, this relentlessness they’ve shown without each other? If they was out on their own, would they have continued to have done it?”

Lineker agreed with the Manchester United legend, with Ferdinand then replying: “All the great sportsmen have had that someone else to feed off and this is another great rivalry in football. They don’t talk about it, there seems to be respect between them, but they’re just phenomenal to watch.

“People try and make comparisons about who’s