A statement from Diego Simeone

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Athletico Madrid train Diego Simeone has attempted to make clear his feedback about Lionel Messi that were made in a leaked dialog throughout the arena Cup by way of insisting the ahead would be his option to have in a group of "first-rate footballers" and not Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Simeone admitted it used to be his remarks that emerged final month, analysing Argentina's downfall and Messi's contribution on the World Cup.

The dialog, one in which Simeone had together with his Atletico assistant, German Burgos, following Argentina's World Cup loss to Croatia, went viral.

"[Messi] is excellent due to the fact he's accompanied by way of extraordinary footballers," Simeone said in the dialog, before asking Burgos a question. "if you happen to needed to select between Messi and Ronaldo for a team ,who would you opt for?"

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Simeone, who has been linked with the Argentina job to replace sacked Jorge Sampaoli, has explained his remarks and said as reported in El Mundo.

"Yes, it was me who said it but I was explaining to German just as a conversation you would have between friends when talking about football," he said. "I wasn't talking about who is the best in the world but rather saying that in a normal club, with normal players, Ronaldo would be a better fit. But Messi, surrounded by great footballers, continues to be the best in the world."

Ronaldo scored four goals in Portugal's opening two World Cup games, including a stunning free-kick to complete a hat trick in a 3-3 draw against Spain, before the European champions were eliminated in the round-of-16 by Uruguay.

Messi came under fire for his performances in Russia, where the Barcelona forward scored only one goal as Argentina crashed out of the World Cup after a 4-3 defeat to France in the round-of-16.

Portugal captain Ronaldo recently left Real Madrid in a €100m transfer to join Juventus after nine seasons with Los Blancos, where he won four Champions League trophies among other titles and finished as the club's all-time top scorer with 451 goals in 438 matches.

Asked who would he choose for his team, Simeone said: "I would probably choose Messi, without a doubt."

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