Diego Maradona Jr has weighed in on whether he thinks Lionel Messi is as good as his father was.

The Argentinian pair are often compared with one another, but the former player’s son’s opinion is clear. 

“Messi is a phenomenon,” Maradona Jrsaid to Sport.

“But nobody is comparable with my father. You cannot compare humans to aliens.

“We can say that Maradona is the God of football and that Leo is the best of the humans.

“I’m sorry, but nobody will reach my old man’s level. It’s impossible.”

When comparing Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo, Maradona Jr was equally as clear.

“I adore Messi,” he said.

“He’s the best around and Cristianodoesn’t even come close to him.

“Whoever in Argentina criticises him doesn’t know a thing about football.

“My father loves him and talks to me about him a lot.”

With Messi the second greatest player of all time in Diego Maradona Jr‘s eyes, it was natural for him to be asked who came next in the list of the best ever.

“Ronaldo [Nazario],” he said, “the real Ronaldo.

“After these three, then come the others. 

“Although [Johan] Cruyff deserves a separate mention for the mark he left on football.

“He changed the sport by himself.”

Marca