The Benfica manager has deemed the Barcelona skipper as “not passionate.”
Benfica boss Jorge Jesus has taken a dig at Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi, comparing his passion towards the game with his compatriot Diego Maradona, who passed away recently.
Jesus also added that his compatriot and current Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is little more passionate than Messi.
The Portuguese gaffer said, “Diego was top in the world, but he had a passion for the game, for football. He was born to be a footballer; he was born with everything. He is not an end product of hard work.
Love, [that’s] the feeling he had with the ball. But today, among the two best in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo has a little bit of that, Messi has nothing. He has no passion at all.
“Messi is a great player. But we are talking about what life and feelings are, having a passion for the game and football. I think Maradona was outstanding in relation to others.”
Earlier, Messi had paid a fitting tribute to Maradona after scoring a belter of a goal against Osasuna last week. The 33-year-old sported a Newell Old Boys’ shirt – with number 10 on back of it – as a homage to Maradona as both represented the Argentine club in their career.
However, the comments from Jorge Jesus comes as a complete surprise as everybody is aware of how passionate Messi has been over the years towards football and his long-time club Barca.
Jorge Jesus won Brasilia Serie A with Flamengo last season (2019-20) and joined Portuguese club Benfica once again.
