Barcelona's Lionel Messi delivers in big games, unlike Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo - Guti

Former Real Madrid midfielder Guti has stated that although he feels Cristiano Ronaldo is a great player, he reckons that the Portugal international is not of the same level as Barcelona's Lionel Messi when it comes to performing when it matters most.

Ronaldo smashed La Liga's goals record last season, netting on 40 occasions, but was unable to help the Santiago Bernabeu side to the league title or to Champions League glory.

"He is a great player and has been decisive in many games. However, what happens in the big games is that he fails to deliver the goods - something that Lionel Messi did for Barcelona. The real stars are those players who shine at the big moments," Guti said to Punto Pelota.

The Besiktas playmaker added that Barcelona remain ahead of rivals Madrid, and expressed his disappointment with the lack of homegrown players in Jose Mourinho's line-up.

He added: "Madrid have not yet reached the level of Barcelona. It will be very hard to beat them if you line up all players against each other one-by-one. My biggest sadness is that Iker Casillas is the only youth product in the team. We spent some money on new signings, rather than in youth investment."

Guti is a product of the Real Madrid youth academy and made over 500 appearances for the capital giants, before leaving them to move to Turkey in 2010.

Ruh roh

Coming from Guti, he never shows up in big games.

I hope what Guti said will be discussed in this thread and not Guti himself.

A bit late.

late. already a thread for it.

a thread is already made on this subject alfred, so i will have to lock this