Highlights

• Ronaldinho played with and influenced Lionel Messi during his era as one of football's most iconic stars.
• Ronaldinho considers Messi "the best of his era" but holds reservations about calling him the best of all time.
• He believes that accolade should instead perhaps go to legendary players like Maradona, Ronaldo, and Pele.

Few boast as illustrious a playing career as the flamboyant and talismanic Ronaldinho. The Brazilian was one of the iconic stars of his generation, lighting up the footballing world with his countless moments of flair and incredible technical skill.

Naturally, a player of this calibre enjoyed a hugely successful career, winning both the World Cup and the Champions League, along with a number of domestic honours. A 17-year period at the top level of the game, most notably for Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and AC Milan, inevitably coincided with sharing the field with an abundance of sensational footballers. None more so than, in the eyes of many, the greatest to ever play the game, Lionel Messi.

Messi enjoyed his breakthrough into the Barcelona set-up at a time when Ronaldinho was at the peak of his powers, excelling in a Barca team that would morph into the side that Pep Guardiola dominated with during the late 2000s. The pair played together between 2004 and 2008, a period which saw Messi begin to develop into the elusively brilliant player fans became accustomed to watching in the 2010s.

Ronaldinho had been the poster boy of an emerging Barcelona side and built the pathway for Messi's generation to flourish at the Camp Nou. But Guardiola was appointed as manager in the summer Ronaldinho departed for Milan (after turning up to training drunk), and Barca went on to lift two Champions League trophies in the following three years, with Messi the centrepiece of an electric team.

Despite leaving before the Argentine's peak, there was a clear synergy and close bond between the two players, with Ronaldinho describing the duo as good friends during their time together at Barca, while Messi praised the impact his star-man predecessor had had at the Catalan giants, once saying: "Ronaldinho was responsible for the change in Barca. It was a bad time and the change that came about with his arrival was amazing."

Despite these mutual kind words, Ronaldinho has refused to name Messi as the best player of all time in his eyes, perhaps a shock to many, given how to some the debate is no debate, and given the Brazil star got to experience this talent up close.

In an interview with Spanish outlet Marca, the Brazilian rejected the notion that Messi is the outright greatest. Indeed, he said:

"I can't say Messi is the best ever, but he is the best of his time.

"There was Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo... it’s hard to say that Messi is the best throughout the history of football."

Ronaldinho on other greats

"There was Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo"

While Ronaldinho may have witnessed the brilliance of Messi first-hand, he also shared the pitch with a number of players who are widely believed to be in the greatest of all time stratosphere, as well as growing up watching players of this ilk.

The football maverick may have just missed Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario at AC Milan, arriving just after Ronaldo had left the Italian club, but the pair featured 39 times together for the Brazil national team. The original Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the most complete forwards of all time, and was pivotal to the South American nation's World Cup success in 2002.

Ronaldinho may have begun his career in the year when Diego Maradona retired from the game, but he would've been raised watching the mesmeric dribbler and would likely have taken inspiration from his diminutive movement with the ball. The eccentric and iconic Argentine has certainly always been in the conversation surrounding the greatest players of all time, and likely influenced Messi's game too.

Pele's career may have come prior to Ronaldinho's birth, but given the former's legendary status in Brazil, there was no way the latter was to miss him out when discussing the very best as he suggested all three were better than Messi.

Ronaldinho on Messi

"The best of his era"

Despite Ronaldinho acknowledging the quality of some of history's other great names, there's still a clear recognition that the Argentine dominated during his time in the game. In Ronaldinho's final season for the Blaugrana, it appeared the torch began to be passed to Messi, who out-scored his counterpart for the first time.

"I’m glad Messi won the Ballon d’Or," Ronaldinho said in 2019. "We were also friends during our time at Barcelona. But I don’t like to compare, and I find it difficult to say he is the best of all time. I can only say he is the best of his era."

It's certainly a debate that will rage on for many years but one thing is for certain, when all is said and done, Messi will take his place on the podium – alongside the likes of Maradona and Pele – as one of the all-time greats.