The comments came to light following Argentina's 3-0 World Cup defeat to Croatia, with Simeone suggesting that Messi relied on the quality of his team-mates to be great. "Messi is very good but he is very good because he is accompanied by extraordinary footballers," Simeone said. "If you have to choose between Messi and Ronaldo in a normal game, who would you choose?" However, spekaing ahead of his side's International Champions Cup clash against PSG on Monday, the Argentine took the chance to set the record straight. Stand out news "If I had to chose between Messi and Ronaldo, then most likely I would choose Messi," he explained. "Yes I said it on the video, but the conversation was between me and German Burgos, talking about football as everyone talks about it. "When I talked about Messi and Ronaldo, it wasn't from the perspective of who is the best in the world. I just meant that if you have the chance to sign one of them for a normal club, with normal players, Ronaldo would probably fit in better. "But with Messi, surrounded by great players, Messi is better than Ronaldo."<doc-sep>Diego Simeone rates Lionel Messi as a superior player to Cristiano Ronaldo despite believing the Juventus star is the better man for a bad situation. A recording of Simeone stating his preference for Ronaldo emerged in the aftermath of Argentina's shock 3-0 loss to Croatia at the World Cup. But the Atletico Madrid head coach has now affirmed his belief that Barcelona ace Messi is the standout of the pair, on the condition he is surrounded by top talent. The Argentina captain, Simeone reasons, would struggle to match Ronaldo's output among lesser team-mates. "If I had to choose between Messi and Ronaldo then most likely I would choose Messi," Simeone told reporters. 0 – Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have never scored in the knockout stages of the World Cup; between both of them, they accumulated 1.090 minutes without scoring (666 Messi, 424 Ronaldo). Drought. pic.twitter.com/1crbUOfcBH — OptaJavier (@OptaJavier) June 29, 2018 "Yes I said [Ronaldo] on the video, but the conversation was between me and [Atleti assistant] German Burgos, talking about football as everyone talks about it. "When I talked about Messi and Ronaldo it wasn't from the perspective of who is the best in the world. "I just meant that if you have the chance to sign one of them for a normal club, with normal players, Ronaldo would probably fit in better. "But with Messi, surrounded by great players, Messi is better than Ronaldo." The record-breaking duo, who share five Ballons d'Or apiece, are set to compete in different leagues for the first time in a decade following Ronaldo's transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus.<doc-sep>Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic discusses Ronaldo signing with the bianconeri and wants his fans to know that they shouldn't always believe what they read in regards to transfer gossip. (3:41) Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone has attempted to clarify his comments about Lionel Messi that were made in a leaked conversation during the World Cup by insisting the forward would be his choice to have in a team of "great footballers" and not Cristiano Ronaldo. Simeone admitted it was his remarks that emerged last month, analysing Argentina's downfall and Messi's contribution at the World Cup. The conversation, one in which Simeone had with his Atletico assistant, German Burgos, following Argentina's World Cup loss to Croatia, went viral. "[Messi] is very good because he is accompanied by extraordinary footballers," Simeone said in the conversation, before asking Burgos a question. "If you had to choose between Messi and Ronaldo for a normal team, who would you choose?" Diego Simeone speaks at a news conference. AFP PHOTO / ROSLAN RAHMANROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images 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."<doc-sep>
Diego Simeone has cleared up his leaked Whatsapp audio conversation regarding Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, now claiming the former is the better player. The Atletico Madrid boss was speaking on Whatsapp with his assistant German Burgos following Argentina's 3-0 defeat to Croatia, in which he suggested Messi shines because he has extraordinary team-mates. In the voice note, Simeone said: 'Messi is very good but he is very good because he is accompanied by extraordinary footballers. If you have to choose between Messi and Ronaldo in a normal game, who would you choose?' Diego Simeone was speaking about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of game vs PSG But speaking ahead of Atletico's International Champions Cup friendly with Paris Saint-Germain, Simeone sought to clarify his comments. The 48-year-old Argentinian claims that his compatriot is the better player but admits that he would choose to sign Ronaldo if he was in charge of a 'normal club, with normal players'. Simeone said: 'If I had to chose between Messi and Ronaldo, then most likely I would choose Messi. Atletico Madrid boss Simeone admitted that he would probably choose Messi over Ronaldo 'Yes I said it on the video, but the conversation was between me and German Burgos, talking about football as everyone talks about it. 'When I talked about Messi and Ronaldo, it wasn't from the perspective of who is the best in the world. I just meant that if you have the chance to sign one of them for a normal club, with normal players, Ronaldo would probably fit in better. 'But with Messi, surrounded by great players, Messi is better than Ronaldo.'