Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane: 'Cristiano Ronaldo the world's best player'

Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane has labelled his star forward Cristiano Ronaldo the best player in the world.

Zidane, who won FIFA's World Player of the Year award three times himself, believes that the Portuguese is better than Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

"Cristiano Ronaldo is the best," Zidane told Mexican publication Record.

"People can say what they like about Cristiano Ronaldo, but in his heart he's a good person. Messi is the rival and that rivalry is great for the footballing spectacle, it's what the fans want to see."

Ronaldo has scored 19 La Liga goals this season to lie one behind Messi's Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez in the scoring charts.