It is the debate that will not go away in the build-up to the Champions League final but the Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernández has refused to compare Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo because, he says, the Portuguese winger would come off so badly.
Xavi revealed that, as well as Ronaldo, he is a big admirer of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard but insisted that Messi is simply untouchable. "Messi is the best player in the world by a distance, he's the No1," Xavi said. "There is nobody at all like him. I don't want to compare him to anyone because it'll just damage the other player if I do. For me Messi is easily the best.
"All due respect to Ronaldo and all the other great players on the world stage but Messi is proving that he is better than everyone else. The world can see that he's the boss. I've never seen anything like it. In a game, in the training sessions, never. I wouldn't swap him for any player."
The Barcelona centre-back Gerard Piqué insists that while Ronaldo is the only player capable of challenging Messi as the world's best, not enough has been said about another former team-mate of his: Wayne Rooney.
"Ronaldo has everything: dribbling, shooting, heading and goals," Piqué said. "Although he's a tiny little vain when it comes to fashion and looking at himself in the mirror, he's great fun and a very likeable person. And there are no words to describe how good he was last season. He is one of the best players in the world: only Messi can challenge him for that [title].
"Maybe people don't talk about Rooney as much as they should because he does not score that many goals, but how many does he provide? I have never seen anyone as strong as Wazza. He dribbles, he runs, he fights and he fires absolute missiles. If he's up for it, no one can stop him. He is a superstar, absolutely world class."
Piqué also believes that given more minutes Carlos Tevez would prove to be a huge success at Old Trafford and described Nemanja Vidic as flawless. "Tevez bites. He never, ever gives a single ball up for lost. He is a wonderful man to be able to throw on and if he played more his goal-scoring figures would be scandalous. And as for Vidic, he's strong, scared of no one and never makes mistakes. He's a nine out of 10 every single match. He is obsessed with doing things right and doesn't have a single weak point."
Xavi added that Barcelona would not compromise their style in order to defeat Manchester United, even if Sir Alex Ferguson's side adopt the defensive approach that so nearly frustrated the Spanish champions against Chelsea – the same style that United used to such great effect in the semi-finals last season, defeating Barcelona 1-0 on aggregate to reach the final in Moscow.
"We have a crystal clear philosophy of football and it's taken us this far," Xavi said. "We will play on the attack right from the first minute. We will play to win, as we always do. I don't know what Ferguson will decide. He's admitted he knows how much we like to have the ball and that when we have possession we can be very dangerous, so I can't predict what they will do. Last year, they were very defensive. At Old Trafford they let us have the ball but they got that goal and we couldn't score.
"But United are certainly one of the best technical footballing teams and they share a good deal of our philosophy. They like to have the ball, dominate the game and get at the opposition. I think the team that has the most of the ball and uses it best in Rome will have the best chance."