Man Utd legend Paul Scholes names his top 5 toughest Champions League opponents of all time
PAUL SCHOLES has named his five toughest opponents from his days playing in the Champions League.
The former Manchester United and England midfielder has certainly come up against some of the competition’s greatest ever players.
Scholes, 49, played 124 TIMES in the Champions League, winning the competition on two occasions.
And across his 17 seasons amongst Europe’s elite, Scholes faces the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus.
But, somehow, the United icon managed to whittle down his top five opponents in conversation with The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.
When quizzed on who those top five stars were, he said: “‘I played some incredible teams – that great Barcelona team, the Real Madrid team when it was the proper Galactico’s, Juventus…
“I’ll go for [Lionel] Messi, Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, [Clarence] Seedorf.
“I’m trying to think of midfield players and that Real Madrid team was incredible – Redondo, Ronaldo, [Luis] Figo, [Zinedine] Zidane, and Raul.”
“When we were trying to win Champions Leagues, those teams were ridiculous. It’s the same with England, the teams we had to come up against like France and Spain.”
When pushed for a definitive top five by co-host Jamie Carragher, Scholes stuck with a Spanish league theme.
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Adding: “Messi, Xavi, Iniesta there’s two straight away. Zidane [and] …I love R9 [Ronaldo Nazario].”
Scholes didn’t just come up against some of the best players around, but played alongside them too.
His Champions League exploits saw him line up alongside the likes of David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Roy Keane.
But despite regularly being alongside world class team-mates, Scholes admitted he and his United pals couldn’t touch Barcelona’s midfield trio of Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in the 2009 Champions League final.
He said: “They never gave you time to tackle them.
“They know where everyone is on the pitch and they know where the opposition are so you think you can get to them but before you know it it’s gone.
“All of a sudden you’re just running around in circles.
“I think Xavi and Iniesta were different players. Xavi was amazing at controlling a game, along with Busquets. He probably doesn’t get the credit he deserves because the three of them were sensational.
“Iniesta was a little bit different because he could go past people.”