Pep Guardiola is of the opinion that Lionel Messi, not Cristiano Ronaldo, is the best player in the world.

Ronaldo recently won the fourth Ballon d’Or award of his career, but he still trails Messi by one title.

The Barcelona superstar currently holds the record of the most number of Ballon d’Or awards with five. However, Ronaldo has been more successful in recent seasons, which has prompted suggestions that the Portuguese may actually have overtaken the Argentine. Guardiola, who managed Messi for a number of years, does not agree with the same.

The former Barcelona captain, who is now a manager at Manchester City, says that there is no room for comparison between Messi and any other player and that includes even the former names like Pele and Diego Maradona. Only a few years ago, Messi was breaking records of every kind and he was widely regarded as the best player on the planet – head and shoulders above the rest.

In recent years, though, tactical changes at Barcelona have meant that Messi has not been able to replicate the same goal scoring records. He has also failed to win major honours with his team, although it is largely as a result of other factors also coming into play.

Luis Enrique also says that Messi is the best player on the planet by a significant distance. "I agree with Luis [Enrique]. Messi is the best, he is definitely the best. With all the respect to all the players, first to Cristiano Ronaldo - congratulations to him for the award - I think Messi is on another level," said Guardiola while preparing his Manchester City team to take on Hull City during the weekend. "It's ridiculous that they're comparing awards - the Melon d'Or or whatever they want to compare. It's ridiculous,” said current Barcelona manager Luis Enrique.