Former England manager Fabio Capello has offered his viewpoint on who is better out of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Ronaldo and Messi have dominated this era of football as the two iconic attackers have won 13 Ballon d’Ors between them. The Argentina and Barcelona legend has the edge in this sense as he has won this accolade eight times, while the former Manchester United star has lifted the trophy on five occasions.

The two players have a boatload of personal and club-level trophies on their résumé. They have also fared well at international level as Messi won the 2022 World Cup, while Ronaldo helped Portugal win the European Championships in 2016.

The Ronaldo vs Messi debate has split the footballing world in recent years but ex-Chelsea standout Eden Hazard recently sided in favour of the current Inter Miami forward.

During an interview earlier this year, he was asked which players were better than him. Hazard answered: “Individually, Messi is perhaps the only one.

“I loved watching the Barcelona player, less so at the end, but he’s the greatest in history.

“It’s impossible to take the ball away from him.

“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: (Karim) Benzema, (Luka) Modric, they were the best, (Toni) Kroos, Kev (De Bruyne), they all exude football.”

“He is not a genius…”

Capello has now argued that Messi is the better of the two players as Ronaldo is “not a genius”.

“[Ronaldo] is a great player. He won titles, he won the Ballon d’Or, but as I said before, it’s not as great as how Messi has been,” Capello said at the Laureus World Sport Awards.

“For me, if you talk to me about Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi, I will say Messi. Ronaldo is a great scorer, shoots, does everything, knows how to do everything, but he is not a genius. Very simple.”

Messi has been making waves in the MLS with Inter Miami this season. On Sunday, he netted a brace as his side battled back from behind to beat Nashville 3-1.

Following this result, Messi’s Inter Miami are two points clear of second-placed New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference after ten matches, but their nearest rivals have played one game less.