Former Juventus and current Barcelona midfielder Miralem Pjanic ‘can only speak well’ of Cristiano Ronaldo but said Lionel Messi ‘is extra-terrestrial’.
Pjanic moved from Juventus to Barcelona in a swap deal including Arthur Melo during the summer and the two sides clash for the second time in the Champions League tonight.
The Bosnia-Herzegovina international spoke of the big duel between Ronaldo and Messi.
“I can only speak well of Ronaldo, as a person and above all as an athlete,” Pjanic said at a public event, according to Mundo Deportivo.
“He’s very prepared and attentive to all details.
“Messi is an extra-terrestrial. Every time I played against him, it was very difficult, almost impossible to stop him and now that I’m by his side, I see that he’s a phenomenon.
“Every time he has the ball, something happens. Either a goal or an assists, or an incredible pass. He’s a genius.”
Pjanic said Messi has put the troubles from the summer behind him and believes the Argentine is ‘focused and motivated’.
“Before arriving, I saw there were problems and that Messi was not well,” Pjanic added. “But now I see him very motivated and focused on his work.
“It’s up to us to help him and make him play even better. When you have a player like Leo on your team, you have to take advantage of it and try to win everything.”