David Beckham has hailed Lionel Messi as the greatest player in the world and insists Cristiano Ronaldo “is not at his level,” reports indepenedent.co.uk.

The Manchester United and England great, who played against Messi’s Barcelona in the Champions League while at Paris Saint-Germain, said it is “impossible” that any player can come close to the Argentine’s talent.

“He [Messi] is alone in his class as a player, it is impossible that there is another like him,” Beckham told Argentine publication Telam. “He, like Cristiano Ronaldo, who is not at his level, are both above the rest.”

Beckham, who is now the president of new MLS side Inter Miami, added: “We were leading [in the Champions League] before Messi came in, and once he came in, Barcelona scored.

“Although I enjoyed playing at that level at my age, I do not like to lose. Our team played well. In both matches, we did things we should be proud of.

“We didn’t lose against Barcelona, and that is something that should motivate us.”

Beckham is reportedly hoping to use his status to sign a number of experienced world-class players at Inter Miami, with Manchester City’s David Silva understood to be one who’s drawn interest in particular.

Football leagues across Europe have been suspended since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed over 100,000 lives throughout the continent.

Lockdown restrictions are in effect worldwide although some countries are cautiously beginning to ease stay-at-home orders.

AFP Sport looks at what we know about possible restart plans for Europe’s top leagues:

ENGLAND
The Premier League said that wrapping up the remaining 92 fixtures remains their goal, but the ongoing COVID-19 crisis means no fixed schedule can be drawn up yet.

With most clubs having nine games left, it was reported that Friday’s meeting of the 20 clubs discussed finishing the season in a 40-day window.

There have been claims that clubs were told domestic seasons must end by July 31 and the 2020-21 campaign must start by the first week of September at the latest.

The UK’s lockdown is in place until May 7 at the earliest.

There is a general acceptance among clubs that matches will be played behind closed doors if the competition can resume, with restrictions on mass gatherings likely to remain in force for the foreseeable future.

A Premier League statement said a number of complex scenarios were being worked through, with fears that failure to finish the season could cost it more than £1 billion ($1.2 billion).

SPAIN
La Liga chief Javier Tebas last week said play could restart as early as next month, although a two-week extension of the nationwide lockdown until May 9 announced Saturday appears to have scuppered those plans.

Tebas said no team training could take place until after the state of emergency ends in Spain, but he was adamant “it is not an option” to cancel the season given the massive hit to revenue Spain’s top clubs would have to absorb. He estimated cancellation would cost teams around a billion euros ($1.08 billion).

May 28-29, June 6-7 and June 28-29 were the three dates Tebas cited for a potential return to competition.

Fixtures are expected to be held behind closed doors initially, with some clubs facing the prospect of playing away from their own grounds due to scheduled building work.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has proposed using the current standings to decide which teams qualify for Europe if the season is scrapped. La Liga and UEFA have not given their approval to the plan.

ITALY
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said club matches could resume “in late May, early June”, saying those advocating cancellation of the season “do not like football or Italians”.

The president of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravina, said it would take three weeks to prepare after the end of the coronavirus lockdown in the country, currently scheduled for May 4.

“There will be a monitoring period to guarantee that all those taking part are free of the virus. If they are all negative, there is no problem of distancing or contagion,” said Gravina.

However, the head of infectious diseases at Italy’s National Institute of Health has warned against restarting the league next month.

According to the Italian media, Brescia and Torino are the last two clubs to openly oppose the resumption of the league.

Twelve rounds of matches remain with another eight postponed games to be played as well, leaving the prospect of finishing the season in late July.

GERMANY
The German Football League (DFL) will hold a video conference on April 23 with the 36 clubs in the top two divisions to discuss whether matches can resume in early May, albeit without fans.

Players have returned to training while adhering to social distancing guidelines, and if health authorities give the go-ahead, the Bundesliga could be the first top European league to resume. But a debate is raging as to whether there will be enough testing available for the coronavirus to keep players safe.

Large-scale public events have been banned in Germany until August 31, but one proposal is for games to be played behind closed doors without spectators, with clubs testing their players, coaches and backroom staff every three to four days.

Only those players or staff who test positive for the coronavirus would be quarantined — not entire teams — with the league hoping the season can be completed by June 30.

The date is important as it would secure around 300 million euros ($326 million) from television deals alone, which could reportedly save some clubs from insolvency.

FRANCE
Clubs are making plans to resume playing and finish the current season by late July despite an extension of the country’s coronavirus lockdown until May 11.

Teams will not be able to train before the lockdown ends, but the best-case scenario would see matches resuming in June behind closed doors.

There seems little prospect of fans being allowed into stadiums any time soon with the government ruling out any large gatherings before mid-July.

The French league (LFP) is targeting starting next season on August 23 but remains intent on completing the current campaign first. There are 10 rounds of games remaining in Ligue 1.

One LFP official says the “favoured scenario” would see the season resuming on June 17, with teams playing twice a week until July 25.

Clubs are desperate to ensure next season starts with as little disruption as possible, especially as a lucrative TV deal with Spanish group Mediapro is set to kick in worth a record 1.15 billion euros ($1.26 billion) a year.

West Ham chief executive Karren Brady claims the Premier League’s return date is still unclear despite hopes the top-flight season can restart in June.

The Premier League said on Friday that wrapping up the remaining 92 fixtures remains their goal, but the on-going coronavirus crisis means no fixed schedule can be drawn up yet.

Brady’s West Ham were perilously placed in the English top flight when football was suspended, sitting above the relegation zone on only goal difference with nine games remaining.

“Players will have been able to retain some physical fitness at home,” Brady wrote in her column in The Sun on Saturday.

“But if social-distancing rules are still in place, physical match-play training will not be allowed — you can’t tackle from two metres away.

“So, how match-fit will players be if the season commences, as we all hope it will, by mid-June?”

With most clubs having nine games left, it was reported that Friday’s meeting of the 20 clubs discussed finishing the season in a 40-day window.

scussed finishing the season in a 40-day window.

There have been claims that clubs were told domestic seasons must end by July 31 and the 2020-21 campaign must start by the first week of September at the latest.

But Brady is adamant difficult questions over training, testing of players, hygiene and medical protocols will need to be resolved first.

The Premier League has been suspended since March and the UK’s lockdown is in place until May 7 at the earliest.

Brady questioned how Premier League clubs could regularly test players for the virus when the same situation is not yet in place for all NHS workers.

She also highlighted a potential unfairness in some squads having a number of players in self-isolation.

“Police officers will need to be at games even if they are behind closed doors as some supporters will travel to the stadium, even if they cannot come in to watch,” she said.

“Everyone at the stadium — and even behind closed doors this is about 300-500 people — including security, staff, medical officers, players, referees and media, will have to have temperature checks, fill out health questionnaires and observe social distancing.

“Then there is the issue of injuries. All this is manageable but what if a player gets injured, where do we send him?

“It can’t be to an NHS (UK National Health Service) hospital that is already under pressure and private hospitals are carrying out NHS procedures and not taking in injured footballers. So then what?”

Former Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Kashimawo Laloko, has expressed disappointment at the thought of Clemens Westerhof coming back to coach the Super Eagles 26 years after he left the team.

Westerhof’s desire to coach the Eagles again was made known to The Guardian recently by a top official of NFF. The official revealed that the Dutch had indicated interest to return as Eagles’ technical adviser with a young coach.

This decision has, however, not gone down well with many, who still feel bad that the coach refused to return home with the team after Nigeria’s ouster at the 1994 World Cup held in United States of America. Westerhof had helped the team to qualify for its maiden appearance at the World Cup in USA and also won her second Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Tunisia.

Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, Laloko stated that he never saw Westerhof as a coach, but rather as an organiser. He said that the Dutch only succeeded because he had direct access to the former military Vice President, Augustus Aikhomu, and that almost all his wishes as regards funding were met.

“As far as I am concerned, Westerhof is not a coach but an organiser. He was lucky that during his time as the coach of the Super Eagles he had direct contact with the late Aikhomu, and things worked out well for him. He cannot get same treatment now.

“These days, we don’t have people with the kind of interest in football shown by Aikhomu back then and that is the truth. Westerhof and his former assistant, Bonfere Jo, are birds of a feather and they are not good enough. Westerhof is even worse than Gernot Rohr,” he said, adding that he wondered why Rohr would say there are no good players in the country’s local league.

“The problem I have with Rohr is how many league matches does he watch that will make him to condemn them? During my days as the technical director of NFF, I insisted that the Eagles should be made up of 25 per cent home-based players and the board agreed. And we had so many of them who later played for the country.

“So, how can you now be telling me there are no good players in our league again? In the countries he has coached what and what did he win there? I do not know why people cannot do things the right way.

“We are not doing the right thing, that is just the truth. But we keep on messing up ourselves unnecessarily. Again, the fact that Westerhof succeeded as a coach doesn’t mean he is good. It is because he had people like the late Aikhomu, Amos Adamu, Bolaji Ojo-Oba who helped him out. Now, he cannot find such people again,” he stated.