Though Zidane immediately grabbed a Scudetto in his first season with Juventus, he was on the losing end of two Champions League finals but secured his only Ballon D'Or title in Did the transfer pan out? The year-old quickly brushed aside the expectations that come with world record fees and "Galactico" tags, slotting straight into a Real Madrid side that comprised world stars such as Luis Figo, Raul , Roberto Carlos and Claude Makelele. He went on to cap his first season with a memorable Champions League winning goal -- a volley executed on the spin with his weaker foot -- against Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden Park.
The "No. Already a star for Brazil at youth level, Ronaldinho was snapped up at the age of 21 by PSG, who landed the attacking midfielder from Gremio ahead of their rivals. PSG back in were nothing like the mega club they are today, so the signing came as quite a surprise.
All things considered, Ronaldinho's stint in Paris was a successful one. While the team didn't perform particularly well ending up 11th in Ligue 1 in the second of his two seasons , the Brazilian did show early signs of why he was on the path to becoming the best player in the world; his displays in the grudge matches vs.
Marseille tended to be especially memorable. On the flip side, however, Ronaldinho did have frequent run-ins with head coach Luis Fernandez over extra-curricular activities related to the Parisian nightlife and late arrivals back from national team duty with Brazil. Along with a roller coaster of a World Cup he scored and was sent off against England in the quarterfinals, but started the final to become a world champion , PSG made Ronaldinho into a proper world star and it wasn't long before Joan Laporta made the playmaker the top transfer priority of his first campaign as a Barcelona president.
Wonderfully, at first At Camp Nou he went from being a free-spirited individualist to an accomplished all-round attacking midfielder. Sure, the skills, the trickery and the winding runs that seem to have inspired many video games were still there, but Ronaldinho also often showed an energy and joy of playing football that might still be unrivalled.
The Brazilian went on to help Barcelona win their first Champions League title for 14 years in and picked up the Ballon d'Or in Sadly, his days in Catalunya ended on a sour note as the excesses of his early days came back to haunt him, and he was departed for AC Milan in the summer of Luckily for Barcelona, they had a kid called Messi waiting in the wings to take over.
After spending nine successful seasons at Real Madrid -- winning the Ballon d'Or and the Champions League four times -- the Portugal forward surprisingly left Madrid for the Italian champions after a scarcely believable goals in games. Though the relationship between the club and their superstar had soured, it was widely expected that a new contract, which had been negotiated for months, would finally be signed.
But instead of embarking on a 10th season, Madrid's all-time record goal scorer opted to join Juventus at the age of But while Ronaldo needed a new challenge, the transfer was a bigger catch for the club than it was for the player.
Just about. It's hard to argue that Ronaldo failed to deliver at Juventus; his Serie A tally of 81 goals from 91 games is exceptional in a league where the top scorer rarely hits the same numbers as in Spain.
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It was in when Ronaldinho made a mark on the international football scene. Playing for the senior Brazil national team in the FIFA Confederations Cup, he was adjudged the best player of the tournament having tied for the most goals scored as well. In , he left Brazil for France, signing for Paris Saint Germain, a club where he would ply his trade for two seasons; He also won the World Cup with Brazil during this tenure.
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In , he left Paris and moved to his dream club FC Barcelona, where he morphed into one of the greatest players of his era. In the five seasons he spent at the Catalan club, he won all the accolades up for grabs. In Barcelona, Ronaldinho climbed the highest pedestal in the footballing pantheon, and with nowhere left to go but down, that's exactly where the legendary player went. Ronaldinho was a person who loved to party. His penchant for late-night revelries was first revealed during his stint with PSG and it only got worse as his fame rose in Barcelona.
He began to miss training sessions with frightening frequency and his physical condition began deteriorating. This did not resonate well with Barcelona's new manager, Pep Guardiola, who found little need for Ronaldinho in a side that featured the formidable attacking trio of Messi , Henry, and Eto'o. His two seasons in Italy were tumultuous, with his signature moments of magic becoming increasingly infrequent.
Yet again neglecting his physical condition, Ronaldinho often found himself on the bench instead of on the field. His physical condition has always been very precarious. His talent though has never been in question. This marked the end of Ronaldinho's time in Europe and subsequently, in the highest strata of football competitions. Messi has been better at basically everything else, over a significantly longer span of time.
Ronaldinho is one of my favourite players, his flair is untouchable, but the only thing that he was better at than prime Messi was headers, which is not surprising considering his size advantage. In all other aspects, prime Messi was at least as good in my opinion.
Prime Ronaldinho vs prime Messi — who's better? Global Cules have their say.
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