Giorgio Chiellini describes Lionel Messi as a ‘God of football’, but says he couldn't have scored his Copa Del Rey wondergoal in Italy.
Chiellini will face off against the Argentinian forward on Saturday, when Juventus meet Barcelona in the Champions League final in Berlin.
“Messi is now the God of football,” the defender told reporters at a media day in Turin.
“It’s difficult to compare him with [Diego] Maradona, Pele and co., but he’s probably the best player of the last 30 years.
Giorgio Chiellini describes Lionel Messi as a ‘God of football’, but says he couldn't have scored his Copa Del Rey wondergoal in Italy.
Chiellini will face off against the Argentinian forward on Saturday, when Juventus meet Barcelona in the Champions League final in Berlin.
“Messi is now the God of football,” the defender told reporters at a media day in Turin.
“It’s difficult to compare him with [Diego] Maradona, Pele and co., but he’s probably the best player of the last 30 years.
“His goal against Athletic Club? It was certainly a great goal [but] I don’t think Messi would be able to score a goal like that in Italy, where the defending is much better than in Spain.
“There’s better football in the Spanish League but worse defending.”
Chiellini then looked forward to Saturday’s game, and insists the Old Lady will go to Berlin to play.
“There’s still a long way to go, we still have three training sessions here in Turin, where we’ll prepare and then there’s Berlin.
“We’re calm, we have to put aside any agitation [from outside] which makes it seem as though we’re playing tomorrow, the match is far away.
“We’re not going to go crazy, you can’t be so presumptuous against Barcelona, but there’s a huge desire to play.”