Liverpool defender, Virgil van Dijk, has picked Paris Saint-Germain star, Lionel Messi, over Manchester United forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, as the best player in the world.

He also chose the Argentine forward over the Portuguese as the toughest forward he has ever played against.

Messi joined PSG from Barcelona this summer , ending his 21-year-old relationship with the Catalan side and scored his first goal for the Paris based club in the Champions League last Tuesday night.

Van Dijk said the Argentine captain gave him a torrid time during Barcelona’s 3-0 Champions League win over Liverpool at the Nou Camp in 2019.

During an interview with Sky Sports, the Dutchman was asked for the toughest forward he has faced and he said, “I would say Lionel Messi, he’s still the best football player in the world.

“Him and Cristiano [Ronaldo] have been doing unreal numbers in the last decades and it’s incredible what they have achieved.

“But in this case I will choose Messi, we had a tough night at Barcelona [in 2019].

Van Dijk is back in Liverpool’s first eleven after spending almost the whole of last season on the sidelines following a serious knee injury.

Meanwhile the Jurgen Klopp’d Reds will go top of the EPL table if they can beat Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.