Well Kaka & Messi & maybe one or two others. He's certainley been the best this season by a bit but most other contenders have just been shite so I think he stands out more. He's on the best form but I still think Kaka & Messi at there best are better than Ronaldo at his best.

Thats what I'm saying. Even Kaka & Messi havn't kicked it this season so on current form, Ronaldo is leading the way at the minute

How are Kaka and Messi at their best better than Ronaldo? How could Ronaldo really have had a better season? Even against top opposition he has scored 3 goals in 5 games in the EPL and these are top teams with great defenders so he can't be expected to play against them like he does lesser teams.

Well tonight for example. Messi was great Ronaldo was patchetic.

yeah

Pathetic? He commited players when he got the ball. Was it his fault that United went to STOP Barca rather than to play themselves? No. He ran at pace and with skill and was a great outlet. The man is only human.

Jesus have any of you people ever played a game of football in your life????

He can't score every game.

As for the pen, it happens. I'm glad it did don't get me wrong but that doesn't mean I'm going to come on and berate the lad for it. He is a world class player. One of the best wingers in the world and tonight he got hung out to dry and still looked class at times.

Second leg will have goals and United won't set up to spoil in my opinion. Could be a very entertaining game of football. At the moment it is Barca ahead on points (to use a boxing metaphor) for style and control.

Control? Yes. They forced United to sit deep and play the way they did. Don't listen to Gray saying United were "comfortable" they were anything but. A comfortable United counter attack or hold the ball. They were workman like and they did a job no more no less.

Comfortable? My left bollock!

As for the best player in the world? Still Kaka for me.

Excuses, excuses, excuses. He did needles tricks & gave the ball away a number of times, never tracked backed & or tryed to the win the ball once when he did loose it & instead sulked & moaned. Rooney was usless going forward aswell but alteat he helped out at the back & made some big tackles which will go unoticed in the papers tomorrow.

In the second half he was running with the ball down the right side he beat his man & cut inside & instead of playing simple a pass he tried backheel (to Scholes I think) & ended up making a hash of it because he wanted to grab the headlines for himself.

He's a moany selfish little git.

Ronaldo = everything for himself
Rooney + Scholes = everything for the team.

Excuses? I'm a Liverpool fan, I don't make excuses for United players believe me!

Like the two "stonewall pens". If the first one is a pen then so is the handball in the box in our game.

The second was a farce. I have no doubt that Marquez had every intention to take Ronaldo down but Ronaldo had already gone half way to the deck before he got there. THAT is why it wasn't given!

Needless tricks? like the Cruyff turn that took him away from 3 Barca players?

Ever think he didn't track back because he was practically the only outlet United seemed to have?

Want to talk about useless despite doing a team game? Check out Rooney's performance. Not hard to see why he doesn't play on the right too often. Rooney did what Kuyt does. Kuyt gets nothing but stick but Rooney should be commended? Kuyt had a better game and I can't believe I am saying that! (that's without the goal even coming into play!)

That moany selfish git is a massive reason why United are in poll position for Title and also was a massive reason United are playing Barca in the first place.

As for him not being a team player, I have twice seen him come to Anfield and do a team job and do it well "and I hate sayin tha".

I agree with that.

Ronaldo plays for himself, there's no doubt about that. He's just an arrogant idiot who taught himself a lesson in humility when he missed the penalty. No doubt that if he scored his already inflated ego would have enlarged even more.

See his post match comments afterwards? I nearly fell off my settee laughing! He was standing there with his hands on his hips like some evil caricature from a cartoon, boasting that he'll score at Old Trafford to make up for the penalty miss. Whatever.

Messi owned him yesterday. All of Barca's best moments came when he had the ball. Don't forget that he's only about 60% match fit too.

I read it in the paper today. His ego is way out of control. I blame Ferguson for alot of it tho.

Got to agree, it was f*cking pathetic all night, he really annoys me so much whenever he plays in big games. I have no problem with the penalty miss, anyone could have done that but it was his overall attitude, every time he'd lose the ball he started crying, flailing his arms about and complaining to his team mates, he constantly lost the ball yet never once tracked back either. I know thats not in his nature but its a Champions League semi final and players need to step up and do whats required. There was one incident in the first half when Tevez lost the ball, Barca broke forward & Eto'o got through on goal but who was back to make a last ditch tackle...Carlos Tevez. I know thats being extremely critical of Ronaldo after the season he's had but if he wants to be classed as one of the greatest players of all time then he needs to show it in the big games.

I was proved right about all the Messi lovers, Ronaldo has scored over 60 goals in a year and has performed against big teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Roma and Lyon. He's top scorer in the Champions League also which is supposed to be the biggest club competition in the world, is that not a big stage? All that and Messi gives an above average against Man United and he's suddenly better then Ronaldo ? Don't make me laugh. Ronaldo will dominate Barca next week. Iniesta = diver.

have you finished licking his ar$e. ronaldo is the best player in the world but he doesnt do it on the big stage as much as messi does. messi scored three against real madrid last year, played great against Chelsea a few times and was best player the other night. they are just about the biggest games hes played in. while ronaldo has went missing in the manchester derbies this season. i thought ronaldo only had 40 goals (still loads) this season?? wheres 60 come from??
and how can you call iniesta a diver when ronaldo does the same,

Well, ive tried debating with you several times in the past but with no real luck but ill give it one more go. Basically, what im saying is that Ronaldo has had a great season, nobody on the planet can deny that. 40 odd goals in a single season is an unbelievable achievement at any level. But to even mention his name at this stage as the best player ever is extremely ignorant, disrespectful to many past players and just laughable really. If he keeps up this sort of scoring record for another five or six seasons then he might deserve a mention but I still think he needs to add more to his game regardless.

Its not his performances that I or many others that complain about him have a problem with, he consistently scores in the Premiership and in Europe but its his attitude on and off the pitch as well as all the overblown hype he receives thats the problem and the main reason people are turned off him. As I explained above, take last night as an example, fair enough the whole team were poor going forward but he just cried and moaned like a little girl all night. Rooney and Tevez were poor going forward as well but were constantly helping out at the back and closing down Barca while Ronaldo was on his knees crying in the other half.

Despite this pathetic performance he still gets most of the media attention the next day, fair enough a lot of it was because of the penalty miss but there was plenty more than that in the papers and on Sky Sports. Paul Scholes had a great game, never gave away the ball and won it back more than any other player and even got special praise from Fergie after the game but still its Ronaldo that gets all the special attention. Hes a great selling point for Sky Sports as well so theyre afraid to criticise him, Souness at least gave out about his behaviour but it was nothing compared to Dunphy and Giles on RTE. People just swallow up all this hype and are blinded by his many faults.

You can say that im being overly critical of him but if he wants to seriously be considered as a great player then he should have to reach exceptionally high standards and become a model professional. Look at people like Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and to use a comparable example - Paul Scholes, theyre all great players but also have real class and professionalism.

In short, yes hes one of the best in the world right now but a million miles from the greatest ever

Great post Conal

Could not agree more remember how good ronaldhino used to be as well as players like weah.....not to say ronaldhino wont be great once more.... all it takes is a dip in form or a couple of niggling injuries to through ronaldo off balance.....also agreed his attitude is deplorable slapping his thighs at every opportunity, i dont understand he is a born athlete so why does'nt he just get up and help the team. CRYING BIIITTCH

how fast lots of you judge him pathetic just because of the match at 'nou camp'?.. even if he managed to score with the pk.. i doubt there'd be nice words written about him either.. enough is enough..



this's getting more ridiculous as he's always compared to everyone that plays better or less better than him.. i wouldn't say anything bad about messi as from what i saw in the match.. he's one of good players in his team.. but to keep him in the state of comparison against everyone's laughable.. first they both play in different leagues.. mind you.. where's barca stuck in the la liga table at the moment?.. wouldn't you care to consider it too?.. and why the heck would you blame fergie for his attitude?.. it's such a nonsense that he's got to be responsible for everything.. he's set his own rules for the players and as you can see.. he won't feel bad to give punishment to those who break them..

flipper this is the 'how far is ronaldo off being the best ever' thread. Therefore we have to compare him with players from different leagues and different generations. The reason we are comparing him with messi in this game is because this game was arguably ronaldos and messi's biggest game they have played in. And just like everyone says ronaldo didnt play like anyone that can be compared with past greats. No one can say ronaldo is special, but he has a long way to go to be compared with others...

Differerent generations? Can you compare Pele to Ronaldo? I sure cant i aint old enough "22" to have seen him play. So what generation do we compare him to? Like Maradona how many people seen him play and remember it?

eh?
For anyone to say ronaldo is GREATEST EVER! he has to be compared to pele and other greats. you cant just compare him with players of the last 10years and come out with the statement saying he is greatest ever. are you kidding me?