This season’s Champions League looks too close to call at the moment, but Jamie Carragher isn’t tipping either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi to win it in 2022.
Messi took a step towards the quarter-finals when his PSG side claimed a first-leg win against Real Madrid, while Ronaldo resumes his campaign next week when Man United face Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital
Both of the veteran players picked up multiple winners’ medals in the competition over the years, but Carragher doesn’t anticipate history repeating itself this campaign.
Part of his reason for this, is that the game has changed in a way that doesn’t lend itself to the way Ronaldo is used at Old Trafford or Messi is being used at the Parc des Princes.
Messi has yet to reach his Barcelona heights since moving to PSG, while Ronaldo’s goalscoring exploits since returning to the Red devils haven’t taken the club to the next level.
And, speaking on CBS Sports’ Golazo show, Carragher repeated the questions he had when the two great players made their summer moves.
“We were talking last night about Real Madrid, and can Real Madrid really play like that away at PSG – I just think this is the way the game is now and you have to perform like that, it has to be high energy,” Carragher said.
“That’s why at times this season I’ve… looked at the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo for Manchester United or Lionel Messi at PSG.”
“[They’re] two of the best players I’ve probably ever seen, but to win the big trophies I don’t think you can carry players and say they’re not going to work hard or they’re not going to press off the ball.”
“It was all 20 years ago and the game shifts and it moves – in 20 years’ time we’ll be seeing another shift, and young, new coaches will come in with new ideas, but it’s a breath of fresh air. It’s a lot more exciting than the football I played,” he added.
“I remember some of the games I played in Europe, we’d just go somewhere and try to get a 0-0 and be boring, wouldn’t care what the spectacle was like – it was just .get the job done’.
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“I don’t think football’s like that now. Yes, you’ve still got to get results, but there’s got to be a spectacle as well, it’s got to be exciting.”
