What Messi said about Ronaldo before 2009 Champions League match.

Sir Alex Ferguson kept it real after his Manchester United side were outclassed by Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final.
Goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi helped Pep Guardiola’s side to a 2-0 win and Fergie knew that his team had been beaten by a superior opponent.
"We got into good positions but in fairness we were beaten by the better team," the Scot reflected post-game.
“I don't think we played as well as we can but we were against a good team."
If Man United were to beat Barcelona, they needed Cristiano Ronaldo to be at his very best.
Yet the Portuguese forward, in his last game for the club before he signed for Real Madrid, was unable to make an impact.
“The battle of the world's best players was won convincingly by Barcelona's playmaker and goalscorer on the night, Lionel Messi,” wrote The Guardian in their match report.

WHAT MESSI SAID ABOUT RONALDO BEFORE THE MATCH

The two have since gone on to have many classic battles in La Liga but it’s a shame they weren’t able to put on a showpiece encounter on Europe’s biggest stage.
Indeed, Messi was excited at the thought of facing Ronaldo in the final.
The Argentinian gave an interview to the Daily Mail before the match in which he spoke glowingly of Ronaldo, admitting he would pay to watch the Portuguese sensation.
“Manchester United have quality everywhere,” Messi said. “So many good players. But if I had to pick one out it would be Ronaldo.
“He is a player I would pay to watch.
“He and I are very different players but he is unbelievable, very special, and it will not be easy to stop him.”

IT WASN'T JUST RONALDO WHO MESSI WAS WARY OF

Messi continued: “But we must not pay all attention to him and forget about Berbatov, Rooney and Carlos Tevez.
“Manchester United have players all over the pitch who can punish you in the same way we have.”
On the day, it was Barcelona’s players who handed out the punishment.
MESSI: WE PLAYED THE PERFECT MATCH
Messi reflected on the match during an interview with The Sun in 2016.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner admitted that nothing Man United tried in Rome would have helped; Barcelona were simply unbeatable.
“There are several games when the team played in such a way that it was almost impossible for the opponents to do any damage to us,” he said . “And it almost always happened in big matches.
“The final of the Champions League in Rome was one of those games when the team played the perfect match.”