Sir Alex Ferguson has sung the praises of Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 39 league goals to his name this season, 50 in all competitions, saying he could score goals for any team.

In contrast, he believes that Messi, who is on 35 league goals and 47 in all competitions, could only thrive as he does at Barcelona.

People say, who’s the best player in the world and plenty of people rightly say Lionel Messi – you can’t dispute that opinion. But Ronaldo could play for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers and Doncaster and score a hat-trick – I’m not sure Messi could do it. Ronaldo’s got two feet, quick, brave in the air. I think Messi’s a Barcelona player.