"Individually, Messi
is perhaps the only one. I loved watching him as a Barcelona player, less so at the end, but he's the greatest in history. It's impossible to take the ball away from him," Eden Hazard has told L'Equipe.
"Cristiano is a bigger player than me but, in terms of pure football, I honestly don't think so. Neymar, maybe. After that, he's no better than me, but at Real, you've got the best, also in terms of their careers: Benzema, Modric, they were the best, Kroos, Kev' [De Bruyne], they all exude football," the Belgian added.
Eden knows ball. This is not the first time he weighs on the Messi v Ronaldo debate this way.
The Belgian clearly appreciates football aesthetics more than raw numbers. We may agree that prime Eden Hazard was a more special player than Cristiano Ronaldo, even given the latter was more effective in front of goal. And Messi... yeah, he's simply in a league of his own.