Cristiano Ronaldo is not a genius like Lionel Messi, claims former Real Madrid boss Fabio Capello
Capello claims hard work got Ronaldo where he is whereas Barcelona star Messi is naturally brilliant
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CRISTIANO RONALDO is the strong favourite to reclaim this season's Ballon d'Or.
But even if the Portuguese star is named the world's best player, one former Real Madrid manager is firmly in Barcelona star Messi's corner.
Fabio Capello, who twice managed the Galacticos, argued that Messi's talent is completely natural whereas only hard work has kept Ronaldo at the Argentine's level.
He told AS: "It's simple, Cristiano Ronaldo is a great goalscorer but he doesn't have the brilliance of Lionel Messi.
According to Capello, when Ronaldo was a youngster at Man United he wasn't a great player.
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"Messi at the age of 17 or 18 was a genius, Cristiano was a good player who improved through hard work and effort and has become an excellent forward.
"He is not just a great player but an excellent one, however he doesn't have that ability to mesmerise or pull off moves that are unimaginable. That for me is the difference."
However, Capello still believes that Ronaldo deserves this year's most prestigious individual football award after becoming club and international champion of Europe.
On the Ballon d'Or he said: "Yes, certainly he's my favourite for the year. He was instrumental in Portugal winning Euro 2016 and Madrid winning the Champions League.
"He'd be the worthy winner. However, when we talk about genius players then that's a totally different debate."
The two players who have dominated world football for almost a decade are meeting for the first time this season in El Clasico today.
Real Madrid won last year's derby with a shock 2-1 win at the Nou Camp but it wasn't enough to prevent Barcelona from preventing the title.
But a similar result today would put the Galacticos in complete control of the La Liga title race.
They are currently six points ahead of Barcelona and it would be difficult to see the Catalans overhauling a nine point deficit.
Boss Zinedine Zidane has an incredible league record since taking over at the Bernabeu, having lost just once, in February at home to Atletico.
Add to that the fact that Barcelona have failed to win either of their last two La Liga games and Real Madrid should go into the match with their tails up.
But the French former Bernabeu star will be wary of Barca, who suffered a similar poor run when Luis Enrique took over two years ago.
Using a colloquial Spanish expression, he said yesterday: "We have to tighten our asses like we did last time. There is no favourite for me, it is 50-50."