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After calling Cristiano Ronaldo a "bigger player" but not "better" than him in terms of "pure football", former Chelsea star Eden Hazard has recently expressed his dissent from the Portuguese legend's claim about Saudi Pro League being better than the French League. Ronaldo stated that "Saudi is a more competitive league", however, the 33-year-old Belgian didn't agree with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
During his interview with L’Equipe, Eden Hazard heaped praises on Lionel Messi while he called himself better than Cristiano Ronaldo as a pure footballer. He said, “Lionel Messi is perhaps the only player who is better than me. I loved watching him when he was at Barcelona."
“Cristiano Ronaldo is a bigger player than me, but in terms of pure football, I don't think he's better than me. Neymar, maybe,” the 33-year-old added.
Hazard believes Ligue 1 teams would win against Saudi teams
Last month at the Globe Soccer Awards, Ronaldo claimed, "To be honest I think the Saudi League is not worse than the French League, in my opinion. In (the) French league I think you have two, (or) 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."
However, when Hazard was asked about Ronaldo's take on Saudi and French leagues on John Obi Mikel's Obi One Podcast, the Belgian had a different opinion. He said, "I'm not agreeing with him but that's just an opinion. 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."
