Former Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert has said that Lionel Messi has become a better player as a result of having Cristiano Ronaldo to contend with on a personal level as well as in La Liga.
Messi and Ronaldo have been widely acknowledged as the two best footballers in the world since the latter moved to Real Madrid from Manchester United for £80m in 2009, with one of the two players winning each of the last seven Ballon d'Or awards.
Despite admitting that Messi is in a "different dimension", Kluivert, who scored 120 goals in 255 games for Barca between 1998 and 2004, suggests that he needs a player like Ronaldo to compete with to help him reach new heights.
"At Barcelona, now there is only one central player: Messi," the Dutchman told Voetbal Zone.
"He is in a different dimension with his football, but I also think that he urgently needs someone like Cristiano Ronaldo.
"He needs someone who gives him an incentive to go for it every game, to see each match as a challenge. Both players are world class and a level above the rest."
Messi has lost out on the Ballon d'Or to Ronaldo in both of the last two years, but the Argentine is tipped to claim this year's award after powering Barca towards the treble last season.
Tom Nightingale
