Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are suffering due to the lack of quality around them, believes Arsene Wenger.

The pair suffered defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and Porto, respectively, in the Champions League midweek, and the former Arsenal manager blames the supporting casts around them at Barcelona and Juventus.  

"It's a problem that [Juve] are only relying on Ronaldo," Wenger told beIN SPORTS, "that just shows that the players around him just aren't good enough.

"It's the same for Messi. If the team is overly reliant on Messi, it's because the players around him are not good enough. 

Wenger also revealed that Arsenal tried to sign Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer, while also confirming failed attempts to bring Messi, Ronaldo, and Gerard Pique to north London.

"We can talk about Mbappe, I was at his home when he was undecided whether to extend his contract with Monaco.

"He could have come to Arsenal for free. I would say every club is full of histories like that."

"The bad luck for us was that Carlos Queiroz joined Man United, and he persuaded [Alex] Ferguson to buy Ronaldo, which was quite a good buy.

"We wanted to have a trio of Fabregas, Messi, and Pique. They all played together [at La Masia].

"At the time, Pique played in midfield and went to Man United, Fabregas joined us, and Barcelona were clever and decided to keep Messi."