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Jamie Redknapp: 'You can't compare Lionel Messi with Pele, Diego Maradona'

Jamie Redknapp plays down suggestions that Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time.

Jamie Redknapp has played down suggestions that Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time.

The Barcelona forward has been labelled the best ever in some quarters, but Redknapp feels that such statements should not be made so hastily.

Redknapp thinks that although Messi is the finest footballer of the modern era, it is too difficult to compare against players who played during others periods in football history, such as Brazil and Argentina legends Pele and Diego Maradona.

"Messi is the greatest player of his generation. The best number 10 of this generation but is he the best ever? I hate to compare across generations," he said in the Daily Mail.

"How can you [compare], when in Pele's day people made tackles on him that you would be arrested for now?

"I was lucky enough to play against this genius (Maradona) in a charity match after he had retired. Gastric band and all, you would have struggled to get the ball off him in a telephone box."

Messi scored 60 goals in 50 appearances for Barcelona last season and is the only player in history to have won the Ballon d'Or four times.

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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona17122350193138
2Atletico MadridAtletico17115131112038
3Real Madrid17114237162137
4Athletic Bilbao1896327161133
5Mallorca188371821-327
6Villarreal157532725226
7Osasuna176742225-325
8Real Sociedad167361611524
9GironaGirona176472325-222
10Sevilla176471823-522
11Real BetisBetis165651820-221
12Celta Vigo176382528-321
13Rayo Vallecano165561819-120
14Las PalmasLas Palmas165382227-518
15Getafe173771114-316
16AlavesAlaves174491928-916
17Leganes163671423-915
18Espanyol1642101528-1314
19Real ValladolidValladolid1733111234-2212
20Valencia152491323-1010


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