Paul Scholes has named the toughest opponents he faced in the Champions League during his legendary Manchester United career.
Scholes, 50, was a key player in the Class of 92 and spent his entire career at Old Trafford from 1993 to 2013, winning countless pieces of silverware.
Widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation – and of all time – Scholes helped United clinch a famous treble in 1999 under Sir Alex Ferguson.
He would go onto win the Champions League again in 2008 playing alongside other greats of the game like Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former England international also came up against some of the very best players of all-time as United looked to dominate on the continent.
Asked to name the best five players he played against in the Champions League, Scholes struggled to narrow his list down but focussed mainly on Barcelona and Real Madrid legends.
He told Sky Bet’s The Overlap: ‘I played some incredible teams – that great Barcelona team, the Real Madrid team when it was the proper Galácticos, Juventus.
Paul Scholes’ Man Utd stats
714 appearances
153 goals
82 assists
11 Premier League titles
2 Champions Leagues
3 FA Cups
2 League Cups
1 Club World Cup
‘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.
‘I’ll go for Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Seedorf, I’m trying to think of midfield players and that Real Madrid team was incredible – Redondo, Ronaldo, Figo, Zidane, and Raul.
‘I love R9 [Ronaldo]. I know he’s a centre-forward but Brazilian Ronaldo.’
Scholes did later clarify his top five to be Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Zinedine Zidane and Brazilian Ronaldo.
Scholes himself has been lauded by both Xavi and Zidane in the past, who both rate the former England international among the very best midfielders ever.
Xavi, speaking in 2011, said: ‘[Scholes is] a role model. For me – and I really mean this – he’s the best central midfielder I’ve seen in the last 15, 20 years.
‘He’s spectacular, he has it all: the last pass, goals, he’s strong, he doesn’t lose the ball, vision. If he’d been Spanish he might have been rated more highly.’
Zidane, when was asked to name his own toughest opponent, added: ‘Scholes of Manchester. He is the complete midfielder. Scholes is undoubtedly the greatest midfielder of his generation.’
This article was first published on November 6, 2024.
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