John Obi Mikel appears to have settled the Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi debate once and for all.
Messi was recently crowned a Ballon d’Or winner for a record eighth time.
But in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s Messi and Ronaldo were the two most dominant players in world football.
However, Mikel revealed there was “no comparison” between the two when it came to playing against them.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE, the former Chelsea star lifted the lid on how the Blues changed their tactics to deal with the pair.
He said: “When we played against [Manchester] United when Cristiano was there we knew Ash (Ashley Cole) would deal with him. He is capable of dealing with him.
“But everytime it was against Barcelona, of my god, training the whole week was about Messi.
“We have to have two-three players with him, you can’t defend one-v-one against him. It’s impossible. You’re dead.
“And the way they play, the way they move the ball around with the sole purpose of getting the ball to him and all he’s doing is watching the game.
“I know we all talk about how he walk’s around but it’s just to find the space.
“Once that ball gets to him, the movement everybody is running and moving, it’s so difficult [to play against].”
He continued: “The way he touches the ball, the way he passes.
“I know the comparison is there but because I’ve played against both and Messi was close to me when we played against them.
“But for me, and I’m not going to say miles because of what Cristiano has done as well, but for me I really don’t see the comparison.
“I just think Messi is from a different planet. I just think he is that good. The game plan was just to kick him because we can’t get the ball off him or get close enough.
“If you think he is there, he is gone. You can watch our games when we played them. JT (John Terry) is tackling, Frankie’s (Frank Lampard) tackling, I’m tackling, everybody’s putting in tackles.
“That’s the only way we could stop him.”
I was about to play Lionel Messi when kidnappers held gun to my dad
Mikel recently opened up on the second time his father was kidnapped before the biggest game of his life.
Mikel, 36, was set to play for Nigeria against Lionel Messi-led Argentina in the final group-stage game of the 2018 World Cup.
But before the game started, the midfielder received terrifying news that his father, Pa Michael Obi, had been kidnapped for a second time, with another kidnapping occurring in 2011.
He said: “My dad got kidnapped while I was playing for the national team at the World Cup 2018 in Russia and we were about to play against Argentina.
“Two hours before the game I got a phone call from my brother saying that my dad has been kidnapped for the second time in Nigeria.
“He was kidnapped for the first time and I spoke to the kidnappers and they demanded lots of money from me, which I did eventually pay before my dad got released.
“But the second time happened while I was playing for my country and I got this phone call from my brother saying that dad has been kidnapped again for the second time.
“That was absolutely shocking. The first time was shocking, but the second time was even more shocking because I was about to go into one of the biggest games of my life.”
The first instance of his father being kidnapped had seen Pa held for 10 days.
He continued: “Just knowing that my dad has been kidnapped again was absolutely heartbreaking.
“I couldn’t leave the room. I couldn’t tell anybody. I was alone in the room for about 30 minutes, thinking what am I going to do? Shall I tell the manager? Shall I tell my teammates? Or should I make an announcement?
“But we’re about to go into the biggest game of our lives. We’re about to play against Lionel Messi and Argentina.
“So I thought about it. I was like, okay, you know what? I’m going to keep quiet. I called my mum and my brothers, everybody was crying on the phone.
“They were saying no you shouldn’t go out and play because you’re not going to be able to perform well.
“I took time on my own and I decided that I’m going to go out there and perform. I’m going to go out there and play.
“So I didn’t tell anybody. I went on the pitch and I played. Sadly, we didn’t win the game and then after that I told everybody.
“In the dressing room the manager and some of the players were almost in tears. They were saying you should have told us and you shouldn’t have played.”
Mikel revealed how then-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had supported him and offered to send people to sort out the situation.
He said: “Chelsea were very supportive. I remember Roman [Abramovich] saying do you want me to send people over?
“Because I know if I send people over, I can get your dad out. I was like, how are you going to do this?
“He said don’t worry about that. Just let me, if you want that option, I can do it.”
Mikel was also full of praise of Liverpool’s support of winger Luis Diaz, who is going through a similar situation following the kidnapping of his parents in Colombia.
Diaz’s mother was released, though his father remains the captive of the ELN rebel group.
Mikel said: “I’m happy to see that Liverpool are very supportive. I must give credit to Liverpool for what they’re doing.
“I can relate to Luis Diaz and what he’s going through. This kind of situation is where you absolutely have nothing to do.
“You just have to wait because they will call you. They will demand for this and they will demand for that. They will say if you don’t do what we want, we’re going to shoot your dad. We’re going to kill him.
“I had my dad on the phone crying on the phone and saying can you give them what they want because I’ve been beaten up here and they’ve got a gun on my head every time saying they’re going to kill me.
“I managed to pay lots of money to get my dad released.”
He added: “I know exactly what you’re going through and I hope he stays strong. I know it’s a tough time for him as a player. I know what his family as well are going through as well.”
Sir Alex Ferguson would try to “brainwash” him after he accidentally signed for Manchester United.
The 36-year-old also lifted the lid on how Sir Alex Ferguson tried to “brainwash” him after he had accidentally signed for Manchester United.
The 36-year-old also lifted the lid on how Sir Alex Ferguson tried to “brainwash” him after he had accidentally signed for Manchester United.
The former midfielder was infamously pictured in a United shirt at a press conference in 2005.
However, he went on to sign for Chelsea from Norwegian side Lyn a year later, despite his pre-contract agreement with the Red Devils.
Reflecting on the transfer, Mikel told talkSPORT this week: “Sir Alex thought he got me, yeah. I did the press conference and it was everywhere.
“Then obviously Roman [Abramovich], everybody at Chelsea saw it and they were like, ‘What’s going on here? We’ve been looking at this player for two or three years now, what’s happening here?’
“Obviously they sent my agent down to Lyn and then he came down to Norway, and then for a couple of hours I went missing. He took me out from my apartment where I used to live with a couple of my friends.
“He was like, ‘We need to go back to London, I need to get you out of Norway right now because what you’ve done right now, it’s so much of a problem with Chelsea and Roman is not happy.’
“So my agent took me to a hotel and then the next morning we flew down to London, and the rest was history.
“Then it took me about a year, I couldn’t play for either United or Chelsea because FIFA was like, ‘OK we need to resolve this.’ So I went to FIFA and I was like, ‘I didn’t mean to sign for United.”
Mikel, who was still a teenager at the time, later met with Ferguson at the FA offices in London.
Before the meeting, he was warned by his agent that the legendary manager would try to “brainwash” him.
He added: “I did have a meeting with Fergie at the FA office in London because the FA also wanted to get involved and was like, ‘We need to get this player playing, he’s a young player, he needs to play football.’
“It was just me and him in a room, yeah that was feisty. I had my agent sitting outside and he was like, ‘When you go into this meeting, because he’s going to try to brainwash, everything he says, just make sure you say no.’
“So I went into that office, into that meeting, so everything he was saying I was like, ‘Ah, I’m sorry boss, I can’t play for United, it was a mistake, I didn’t mean to sign.’
“It was a long table, he was sitting right over there and I was sitting at the edge of the table.
“He was sitting at the other edge, I could see him go red, he was like, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to play for United, the biggest club in the world?
“He’s like, ‘What is it you want, do you want more money? What is it you want, I’ll give it to you
“I was like, ‘Sorry boss, I can’t play for United, I want to go to Chelsea.’ So we had about 20 or 30 minutes in the room and he walked off and then that was it.
“He walked away, and then the next couple of weeks he was like, ‘OK, well I’m not going to let him go for free,’ so [Chelsea paid] £14million to United and £4m to Lyn.”
Mikel went on to spend 11 years with Chelsea, making 372 appearances for the Blues.
During that time, he won 11 major trophies, including the Champions League and two Premier League titles
Following spells in China, Turkey, Kuwait and two returns to England, Mikel retired last year aged 35.