Gary Lineker calls Alex Ferguson's old claim regarding Ronaldo & Messi 'nonsensical'

Former Tottenham and Barcelona striker and now football pundit Gary Lineker recently gave his remarks on Alex Ferguson's old claim regarding Ronaldo and Messi. Earlier, during an interview, Sir Alex Ferguson, while speaking about the duo had stated, “Cristiano Ronaldo could play for Millwall, QPR, Doncaster Rovers… anyone, and score a hat-trick in one game. I'm not sure Messi can do it. I think Messi is a Barcelona product.”

Taking to Twitter, replying to the quote, Gary Lineker wrote "This is nonsensical. I know we don’t tend to look beyond these shores very much, and I’m sure Sir Alex is being supportive of one of his own, but even as recently as this summer, Messi almost single-handedly won the Copa America for Argentina. They’re both greats."

Apparently, Gary Lineker is of the view that both players are greats in their own ways and also pointed out that Messi almost single-handedly won the Copa America for Argentina last summer. 

Messi vs Ronaldo: Who has more hat-tricks to their name?

Earlier last week, Cristiano Ronaldo netted his first hat-trick since returning to Manchester United, single-handedly winning them the game 3-2 against Tottenham. That marked the 59th hattrick for the Portuguese and only his 2nd for Manchester United, with his 1st coming in a game against Newcastle United back in 2008. The player has also scored 44 hat-tricks for Real Madrid, three for Juventus and ten times for his national side Portugal. 

Lionel Messi, on the other hand, has scored 54 hat-tricks and is the only other player to have scored over 50 hat-tricks with Robert Lewandowski at 3rd with 29 to his name. 

Messi vs Ronaldo: Antonio Conte makes comparison after Man Utd hat-trick

Meanwhile, Tottenham manager Antonio Conte after his side's 3-2 loss over Manchester United which saw Cristiano Ronaldo score a hat-trick said "It was an amazing performance from Cristiano, but I know him very well and it's not a surprise for me, We're talking about a player that with Messi they are the best players in the world right now, with Maradona and Pele [historically] in my opinion."

Image: AP