La Liga News: Where Does Messi Rank Among All-Time Greats, Is He Best In History?

Lionel Messi is the most humble footballer that you’ll ever come across. He’ll be the last player to suggest that he is the best player at the moment let alone the best of all time. Since he broke Gerd Muller’s goal record of the most goals scored in one calendar year, his reputation of being the World’s best has taken a step-up as people are saying he is the best of all time.

There’s no doubt he is the best player of this generation but questions still loom over whether he is better than the  Maradona and Pele. Everyone can see similarities between Messi and Maradona. The close control, the pace of their dribbling and most of all their appetite for goals. But if you can compare the two players, it becomes very difficult to choose. Many people say Messi needs Barcelona to play well as he doesn’t perform whilst with Argentina. Whereas Maradona played in average Napoli and Argentina sides which were highly successful.

However what Messi has achieved by himself is vastly more impressive than Maradona. Messi is the all-time top scorer of La Liga and holds the most goals in one calendar year. Maradona didn’t achieve anything like this but did on the other hand, win a World Cup. This stops Messi from being called the best in history. But there are people that say this doesn’t matter as his domestic success is far better than any of his rivals. This puts Messi at a higher standard than Maradona but is he better than Pele?

Pele won three World Cups in Brazilian teams that are labeled as some of the best teams in history. The only teams to rival the Brazil team of 1970 are Spain and Messi’s Barcelona. Pele is known as the best player of the twentieth century. What he achieved with Brazil was astonishing but his domestic success doesn’t stand-up to Messi’s achievements. This is because he failed to arrive in Europe and show his class in higher standard leagues. Instead he was highly successful in his native Brazil. This is why people question if Messi is better than Pele.

However putting major honours first, three World Cups pushes all of Messi’s medals, trophies, pots and pans aside. If Messi could win one solitary World Cup, then I believe he would be known as the best player in history. He doesn’t need to match Pele’s three, as the Argentina squad won’t be one of the best teams whilst Messi is playing. The players around him just aren’t good enough. If he wins the one World Cup along with already having amazing domestic success, his achievements will prove to be vastly more impressive than Pele’s.

But at the moment, Messi is ranked as the second greatest player of all time. In front of Maradona but slowly creeping up on Pele.