JOSÉ MOURINHO ENDS THE CRISTIANO RONALDO-LIONEL MESSI DEBATE ONCE AND FOR ALL

José Mourinho Ends The Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi Debate Once And For All

ADNAN RIAZ in FOOTBALL

Just like many other pundits, ex-footballers, current players, managers and fans, José Mourinho has offered his two cents on the long-running debate surrounding Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Special One has been out of management since Manchester United sacked him in December.

But that hasn't stopped him from featuring as a pundit on beIN SPORTS or his own show on RT, On the Touchline with José Mourinho.

Speaking on the latest installment of On the Touchline, the former Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid boss praised both players rather than choosing one of them to focus on.

"I think they are lucky and unlucky to be in the same generation," he said. "They are lucky because they can compete against each other.

"They look to each other in a positive way and get extra motivation. If there was only one of them, they would have ten Golden Boots."
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Classy response, right?Credit: PA

Well, Mourinho wasn't done there.

The 56-year-old Portuguese manager admitted that the two five-time Ballon d'Or winners have raised the bar so much that it should be motivation for other players to challenge themselves.

"Now, I think they have put the bar really high," he explained.

"And you have the players coming behind, who I like to call the 'little monsters.'

"The bar has to be high, so it has to be incredible motivation for Neymar, [Kylian] Mbappé and [Antoine] Griezmann.

"Unfortunately, Cristiano and Messi will not last forever."Credit: PA

Often a polarising figure for many fans, Mourinho's work on his show has a lot of people praising him for his analysis.

"Love him or hate him, but you have to respect this man," one fan wrote.

Another said: "You can listen to him all day."

A third wrote: "Almost everybody hated Mourinho when he coaches and suddenly everybody loves him now that he is between jobs."

A fourth added: "Fantastic man, excellent pundit. And he's looking the happiest I've seen in a long time. He needed this break."

It's not the first time that Mourinho has entered into the Messi and Ronaldo debate, having previously touched on the topic when he featured on beIN SPORTS.