Former Barcelona captain Xavi has described Lionel Messi as a "much better" team player than Cristiano Ronaldo and more intelligent than his Real Madrid rival, too.

Messi and Ronaldo have been named the top two players in the world in voting for the Ballon d'Or for the past five years, with the Argentine winning the award three times in that period.

Ronaldo is in line for another Pichichi award this season, as the Portuguese currently leads the Spanish goalscoring charts with 28 goals - although Messi boasts a better minutes-per-goal rate.

When asked about the differences between the two players, Xavi, now playing in Qatar, toldThe New Arab: "Ronaldo is a goalscorer, and Messi is also a goalscorer; however, Messi is a much better team player than Ronaldo. 

"I think Messi is the best footballer in the world. In football, there are two important elements: fitness and intelligence. Ronaldo is very fit but Messi has both the fitness as well as the intelligence, so simply put he is better."