Silva has played against many of the best forwards in the game during his career in Brazil national team, AC Milan, PSG, and now Chelsea.

The Brazilian centre-back will come up against Ronaldo again when Chelsea host Manchester United in a Premier League tie at Stamford Bridge on Sunday evening.

Before the match, Silva compared Messi and Ronaldo, adding that the Argentine captain is difficult to defend against in a one-on-one situation.

“The small difference is that Messi, with the ball in a one-on-one or a two-on-one, is difficult to stop,” Silva told ESPN.

 “With Ronaldo, I’m not saying that it’s easy, but one player can mark and the other can monitor – doing that gives you more security at the back.

"However, Messi and Ronaldo are both players capable of incredible things – like Neymar.

“I believe, though, that it’s harder to defend against Messi than it is against Ronaldo.”