Eden Hazard has reacted to Cristiano Ronaldo’s statement asserting that the Saudi Pro League is “more competitive” than Ligue 1.
Hazard gained experience in the French top division, contributing to Lille’s success in winning the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de France before departing for Chelsea in 2012.
- Pep Guardiola names the best midfielder in the world
- Eden Hazard names the six best players he played alongside in his career
- Rasmus Hojlund makes Premier League history with brace at Luton
- Florentino Perez claimed Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t Real Madrid’s best signing of the century
Nonetheless, Ronaldo has criticized the quality of football in France, arguing that the Saudi Pro League, where he currently competes for Al-Nassr, is superior.
Speaking at the Globe Soccer Awards last month, Ronaldo said: “To be honest I think the Saudi League is not worse than French league, in my opinion. In [the] French league I think you have two, three teams with a good level.
“In Saudi now I think it’s more competitive. They can say whatever they want, it’s just my opinion and I played there one year so I know what I’m talking about. But I think right now we are better than [the] French league, we still improve.”
Nevertheless, during Hazard’s appearance on John Obi Mikel’s Obi One Podcast, when asked about Ronaldo’s remarks, the Belgian strongly disagreed, stating that a Saudi club would not stand a chance against a Ligue 1 team.
“I’m not agreeing with him but that’s just an opinion,” Hazard said in response. “If you look at the league in Saudi Arabia, they have big players, it’s just that they’re not big teams. In France, maybe now they have fewer big players, but they have big teams.
“I’m sure if a Ligue 1 team played against a Saudi Arabian team, they would win. Maybe not easily, like people might think, but the level in France is good. I’m watching their league and they have talent.”
However, Hazard also acknowledged Ronaldo’s prowess when prompted to weigh in on the perennial debate of whether the Portuguese superstar surpasses Lionel Messi. “For me Messi is the one,” he replied.
“Messi is the one if you talk about football. But then people they have different opinions on that though, Ronaldo is the goat to score goals and to bring trophies to the team.
“This guy wow, look at him now he is 39 and will score goals until he is 50, believe me. Me, I am more my style of play is Messi, but for me the greatest is [Zinedine] Zidane.”
