Giorgio Chiellini, the legendary captain of Juventus, had to decide between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the two most famous players of his generation.

After a great late-career tenure at LAFC, the Euro 2020 star has already hung up his boots and returned to Juventus in a management role.

However, the two GOAT contenders are still playing, albeit in less prominent leagues. The Argentine chose to join David Beckham’s team, Inter Miami, while the Portuguese made a spectacular move to Al-Nassr, opening the door to Saudi Arabia for a number of other celebrities.

When Chiellini appeared on Gary Neville, Roy Keane, and Ian Wright’s podcast, The Overlap, he was asked to weigh in on the long-running argument between Messi and Ronaldo.

In addition to losing Champions League finals against both superstars (in 2015 against Barcelona and in 2017 against Real Madrid), the legendary defense had faced them on multiple times.

When Ronaldo made a game-changing transfer to Turin in 2018, the Italian also played with him. Perhaps this element swung the odds in favor of the Portuguese because the two men were teammates for three years.

Chiellini chose to support his former teammate, stating that he always aspired to take the initiative and get the team back on track when they were behind in the score.

As reported by Pulse Sports, Chiellini remarked, “When we were losing, he had the balls to take all the balls, no matter what, try to win, shoot from anywhere in order to lead the team to win, and it’s not easy to do it for a lot of players.”

“He performs at a higher level when the game gets harder.”

Messi holds the record with eight Ballon d’Or victories, while Ronaldo earned five over his storied career.