The Liverpool boss appears to have revealed which of the five-time Ballon d’Or winners he prefers, although he considers Pele to be better than both
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed that the only selfie on his phone is with Lionel Messi, with Cristiano Ronaldo snubbed.
Debate regarding which of the five-time Ballon d’Or winners can be considered the best has raged for well over a decade now.
Both men boast countless records and enviable hauls of major honours, with their exploits having contributed significantly to the causes at Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
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Klopp is an admirer of two iconic figures, but appears to favour one over the other.
He has met both, on the same day, but only went out of his way to grab a picture with a mercurial Argentine.
“I have only one selfie on my smartphone,” Klopp told the audience on an LFCTV Q&A.
“That’s with Messi.
“Cristiano was in the room as well…”
While hinting that he considers Messi to be the finest player of the modern era, Klopp admits that he has neither the Barca star nor Ronaldo at the top of the all-time list.
Having grown up in an era dominated by other superstar performers, it is a Brazilian striker with three World Cup wins and more than 1,000 goals to his name that the German rates the highest.
Klopp added: “My father always told me, whatever people say in the future, Pele was the best.
“I met him actually, when I was a pundit at the World Cup in 2006.
“I’m not the type of guy who gets nervous but I was sweating like crazy in that moment.”
It could be that Klopp’s path crosses with legendary figures again this term, with Liverpool chasing down Champions League glory once more.
Ronaldo and Real Madrid inflicted final heartache on him in 2017-18, and there is a chance that he could be back for more with Juventus this season.
Messi and Barcelona may also be future foes, but for now Klopp is focused on a last-16 showdown with Bayern Munich – with a heavyweight two-legged tie set to be staged in 2019.