Juventus legend insists Ronaldo’s leadership give him edge over rival Messi
JUVENTUS legend Antonio Cabrini thinks his former club have the world's best player in Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Portuguese superstar, 34, is locked in a battle for the ages with old foe and fellow five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi.
And Cabrini - who won every trophy at club level with the Old Lady as well as the 1982 World Cup - thinks his leadership skills hand him the edge.
Speaking at a Betfair event at the Allianz Stadium, the 61-year-old said: "Obviously the last 10 years in club football has been focused on the rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo.
"My personal opinion is that Ronaldo is better than Messi but mainly in terms of leadership.
"Ronaldo has proved himself to be a real leader a lot of times - and not only on the pitch. He is a leader in his life as well as in sports.
We are speaking about two great players - I think we can all agree on that
Antonio Cabrini
"So with all the respect and admiration we have for a player like Messi, there have been a few instances in his career that he came up short.
"But we are speaking about two great players - I think we can all agree on that."
Ronaldo's first season in Turin ended with Juve securing an eighth-straight Serie A title but no European glory.
The ex-Manchester United star has never won the Champions League without a Welshman in his side.
And ahead of Aaron Ramsey's Italian switch, Cabrini had some advise for newcomers to the giants.
He added: "I can sum it up in three points. The first two are the same for any club, the third is particular to Juventus.
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"Firstly, whatever point you are in your career, you must still be hungry. Secondly, you can be any type of player, any kind personality with any skill set but you must win, that is why the fans love you.
"Finally, and this is typical for Juventus, if you are leaving, whether it's after one, two or ten years, you have to know that you leave Juventus shaking the hands of your manager and chairman, that's it.
"This isn't like other stadiums, globally and in Italy, where when a key player leaves everybody is crying and destroyed, because what comes first at Juventus is Juventus."
As official betting partner of Juventus, Betfair invited fans from the UK and Italy to play in a tournament at the Allianz stadium. The UK fans won a place on the trip by testing their Juve knowledge in a quiz named ‘beat the elite’ where they had to better the score of the Juventus players to qualify
