PSG’s Brazilian defender Thiago Silva says that Barcelona’s Lionel Messi is harder to defend against than Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

PSG are set to take on Real Madrid in the round of 16 of the Champions League and ahead of the big game, the war of words that began with Real Madrid’s open invitation to Neymar, looks set to continue.

Silva has come up against both Messi and Ronaldo in his distinguished career and the defender has suffered against Messi in more than one occasion for both club and country.

Messi famously came on in a last-16 Champions league tie, with an injury to his leg back in 2013 to inspire Barcelona’s comeback against PSG. Barca scored after Messi’s mesmeric performance as they managed a 1-1 draw to go through to the semis at PSG’s expense.

In Thiago’s opinion, it is difficult to contain the Argentine compared to Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese did not have the best of starts in the current season and Thiago suggested that the forward can still come back to take the Ballon d’or.

“It's harder to defend against Lionel Messi than Cristiano Ronaldo,” Silva told Spanish outlet Sport.

“Cristiano deserved to win everything he's won in his career. This year is a bit harder for him but it's not over yet. He could still win the next Ballon d'Or.

“The little difference between them is that Messi, with the ball, one on one, or even against two, is difficult to stop.”

The mouth-watering tie between PSG and Real Madrid will excite viewers and Thiago would hope that he and his team manage to contain Ronaldo during the last 16 ties.