But is Villas-Boas, from 2002-09 a key member of Mourinho's backroom staff at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan, a clone of his mentor? I spoke to Portuguese journalist Jose Delgado and former Inter midfielder Olivier Dacourt to find out.

Background:

Mourinho is from Setubal, 182 miles south of Porto, but Villas-Boas - who, according to Delgado, once claimed that sitting on the bench as Porto coach was like "sitting in the chair of my dreams" - is Porto born and bred.

Villas-Boas has a superb human touch and all the players loved him. He is more human than Mourinho - Ex-Inter midfielder Olivier Dacourt

Mourinho took his time to get to the top, but Villas-Boas's rise has been meteoric, as Delgado explains. "He lived in the same apartment block as Porto manager Sir Bobby Robson and, as a 16-year-old, would talk to the coach, giving his opinions. Robson found him extremely interesting because he wanted to know everything about football."

Robson sent Villas-Boas off to get his coaching badges and, by the time Mourinho arrived as Porto boss in 2002, Villas-Boas was already working with the under-19s. He was put in charge of the Opponent Observation section, and his role in Mourinho's rise to stardom was born.

Villas-Boas' coaching career has followed a similar path to Mourinho's Pic: BBC

Influences:

What is clear is that Robson had an enormous impact on both men. Mourinho has always spoken about the debt he owes the former England manager, and Villas-Boas is no different.

"Bobby allowed a 16-year-old to approach him and talk football tactics with him. Then he took me to training, watching sessions. He had that respect for a young boy who approached him in an apartment block in Porto," said Villas-Boas.

Upon taking over at Porto last summer, Villas-Boas, who has a grandmother born in England, said he considered himself more like Robson. "I see myself more in the image of Sir Bobby than Mourinho. Like him, I've got English heritage, I've got a big nose and I like red wine."

But he has also acknowledged the importance Mourinho played in his education. "He introduced me to professional football and I'd like to dedicate this to him," said Villas-Boas after victory in the Europa League final against Braga in May.

Personality:

Who could forget Mourinho waltzing into English football in the summer of 2004 and immediately declaring: "I am a Special One"? Can we expect the same level of confidence from Villas-Boas?

"People focus too much on the manager," he said last season. "Success is down to the structure of the club and the players. Football is not a one-man show. My job is to nurture talent, to allow players to explore their capabilities to the full. I'm no dictator. I don't see it as a one-man show."

Delgado says the two are very different people. "Villas-Boas learned a lot from Mourinho, but he is a different person, definitely not a Mourinho clone. He knew from the beginning he couldn't be Mourinho, he had to go his own way, be his own man.

"Mourinho is aggressive and always needs to be fighting someone, but Villas-Boas doesn't need that. He is, though, very strong in the mind games and intelligent, so he won't hide from anyone or anything. He will happily take on someone like Sir Alex Ferguson, he won't be afraid."

Relationship with players:

"Villas-Boas has a superb human touch and the players loved him, every one of them," said Dacourt of his time at the San Siro. "He is more human than Mourinho. He always wanted to talk to us, find out how we were. We knew how young he was but he wanted to learn and worked very hard at improving in every area."

This is where the two men are most similar. Mourinho's rapport with the likes of John Terry and Frank Lampard at Chelsea is legendary, and Villas-Boas saw at first hand just how important it was to gain the respect of key players in the dressing-room.

Porto goalkeeper Helton, seven months younger than Villas-Boas, said recently: "He looks after us, he gives us tranquillity and reminds us what we're capable of. He's a friend of the team and a friend to every player. He's one of the best coaches I've worked with and allows us to play with lots of freedom."

Striker Radamel Falcao agrees: "Villas-Boas has made 24 players at Porto feel relevant and important - and that is not easy," while Markus Berger, who played for Villas-Boas at Academica, told my colleague John Sinnott: "He emphasises creating a big spirit in the group so that everybody works together and everybody will push for the team. He has a great personality and you want to work with him."

Tactics:

So how can Chelsea fans expect their team to line up? "Villas-Boas likes 4-3-3, the same as Mourinho," says Delgado. "But it would be fair to say Mourinho is more pragmatic than Villas-Boas and a little more radical when he feels he needs to be.

"People say Villas-Boas's teams are more attacking, but he didn't need to play defensively this season because Porto were winning every game. Who knows what he'll do at Chelsea? He's only been a manager for a year-and-a-half!"

It is unlikely that Villas-Boas will prove to be a one-trick pony where tactics are concerned. He is, after all, the man who spent four days at a time putting together exhaustive dossiers on opponents while he worked for Mourinho.

Playing the game:

Mourinho, master of the mind games, enjoyed his fair share of battles with the media and his fellow managers alike during a compelling three-and-a-half years at Chelsea, but will Villas-Boas keep us similarly entertained?

"Oh you'll have fun, be sure of that," says Delgado. "It might not be quite the same as Mourinho, but you won't be bored. Villas-Boas will give you plenty to write about."

"I'm sorry, I'm so tired," said the Barcelona manager, about an hour after the final whistle in their majestic Champions League final dismantling of Manchester United. "I cannot think right now. Please let me go away and have a rest and then I can think."

The contrast with his opposite number Sir Alex Ferguson could not have been more stark. Ferguson, who had just watched his team receive what he called a "hiding", was immediately on the front foot, talking about how his squad could improve and how he would go about building a team to beat brilliant Barca.

"You shouldn't be afraid of a challenge in life," said Ferguson. "We all have a challenge with this Barcelona team. Not just Manchester United, but everyone."

He has spoken in the past about what a difficult job being Barcelona boss is, of how gruelling the sheer the size of the club and the extraordinary expectation level that goes with it can be. In his three seasons in charge Guardiola has won it all, but on Saturday, in the immediate aftermath of his greatest triumph, he gave an indication of the fear of failure that drives him.

"Sir Alex is amazing, it's unbelievable what he has done in 25 years at United," said Guardiola. "But in Spain, in Italy, to have 25 years in the same job... it is impossible. If you don't do so well in one year, in one-and-a-half years, you get fired.

"Do I still want the challenge? I have to look inside of me for the answer to that. I will continue for another year and then I will decide. My life is decided by passion and when that's gone I'll go home and rest a little bit and try to get that passion back."

When he talks about this Barcelona team he manages, Guardiola sounds like a proud father. He saw many of these youth team products coming through the ranks when he was a player at the club and now he sees it as his role to provide them with the perfect platform to exhibit their outrageous talents.

Once again at Wembley, the club's cantera - their youth acedemy - was responsible for doing most of the damage, with Pedro and Lionel Messi both scoring and the untouchables, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, ensuring United never came close to getting a foothold on the game in midfield.

Guardiola will not find it easy to walk away from a group of players who are now seriously asking pundits to consider them a candidate for the best team of all time and, equally important you feel to him, people he admires away from the football field as well.

Part of the philosophy of the club is that they produce impressive young men who treat others with respect and go about their work with humility. On Saturday, these qualities could be seen both in the guard of honour the Barca players formed for United after the game and then when they asked Eric Abidal - who had surgery on a liver tumour only two months ago - to put on the armband and collect the trophy from Uefa president Michel Platini.

"It is a privilege to be a part of this club and a privilege to have these players and I am so happy to be the coach of them," said Guardiola, who also won the European Cup as a player with Barca in 1992 when they beat Sampdoria at Wembley.

"Players are human beings and you need to look at that too. Whether you win or lose there's a human quality and Carles [Puyol, the club captain] made a great gesture to Eric which is to his credit."

As he has always done as player and now coach, Guardiola leads by example. Asked many times on Saturday whether the crushing manner of Barcelona's victory meant they deserved to be talked about on a par with, or even on a higher level than, Cruyff's 'Dream Team' that captured the cup 19 years ago, he was quick to pay homage to the class of '92.

"We wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for them," said Guardiola. "It all started then with Cruyff and Carles Rexach. They were the teachers, they showed us the way we have to play. We follow what they taught us, and we try to play in the right way now. We want to show the world that it is possible with beautiful football.

"I cannot answer whether we are among the greats of all time because I did not see the Real Madrid team of Alfredo di Stefano, I did not see the Santos of Pele, I did not see the Ajax of Johan Cruyff.

"All I know is that we try to play as well as possible, and in 10-15 years we hope people will remember us as one of the best. We just want everyone to enjoy this, and for us it's marvellous too."

Guardiola has been linked with the vacant managerial position at Chelsea in the past couple of weeks, but it is hard to imagine the born-and-bred Catalan even considering working for any other football team. The bond he has with Barca, which began as a 13-year-old back in 1984, is so strong, and he engenders so much goodwill towards them with his humble nature, that his name has become synonymous with theirs.

Ferguson, the oracle of football management, wasted no time in passing on some advice to his young adversary when the Scot was asked why Guardiola would be considering leaving Barca, as well as expressing his admiration for the winners.

"In my time as manager here, they are the best team we've faced, I think everyone acknowledges that and I accept that," said Ferguson. "Great teams go in cycles and the cycle they're in at the moment is the best in Europe, no question about that. It's a great moment for them and they deserve it.

"If Pep leaves he'll never get this experience again, that's for sure."

If next season is to be his last season in charge, then that is something Guardiola will have to come to terms with. As he fought for the strength to finish his post-match press conference on Saturday, his eventual exit suddenly loomed large on the horizon.

"My future will be very tough," he admitted. "I'll be at another club, trying to find these type of players... But maybe that will be a great challenge for me, to take the players I will have at that club and try to get them to reach their top level, no?"

On Saturday at Wembley, Guardiola's current crop reached a level seldom seen in recent years. Whatever the future holds for this most likeable of personalities, he has already etched his name and that of his team into the history books and into many football lovers' hearts.

A few days before, Cruyff had suggested Guardiola might walk away even if Barca beat United because of the "certain pressures" of the job. "He has worked very hard and it wouldn't surprise me if he left," said the coach's former manager and mentor.

If and when he chooses to quit, Guardiola's legacy is already assured. But watching him bask in the after-match glow of his greatest personal triumph as the Barca legends he has helped create threw him jubilantly up into the London night sky, it almost seems impossible that he ever would.

Barcelona are the new champions of Europe after a spectacular 3-1 victory over Manchester United at Wembley on Saturday.

Pedro's opener was cancelled out by Wayne Rooney, but second-half goals from the magical Lionel Messi and David Villa earned Barca their fourth European Cup.

Here's how the Barca and United players rated on the night:

Edwin van der Sar - 5
Made a couple of decent saves, but should have done better with the first and second goals. Sad way for the 40-year-old to bow out of football.

Fabio - 6
A brave pick by Sir Alex Ferguson largely justified. Produced a mature display and did not get much help from Antonio Valencia down the right. Hobbled off with a calf problem.

Patrice Evra - 5
Pinned back into his own half for most of the game, the Frenchman had his hands full defensively. Stood off Messi as he fired in Barca's second.

Nemanja Vidic - 6
Stayed strong in the first half to stop wave after wave after Barca attack, but eventually the onslaught proved even too much for the Serb.

Rio Ferdinand - 6
Was wrong-footed by Messi a few times as the Argentine gave him twisted blood, but it's hard to criticise anyone too much for coming off second best in that battle.

Michael Carrick - 5
Played marginally better than he did in Rome two years ago, but again was no match for Xavi and Andres Iniesta. Mostly a passenger.

Ryan Giggs - 5
Gave the ball away too often, which is suicide against this Barca team. Tough ask for a 37-year-old, and his first real failure of the season.

Park Ji-Sung - 5
In the team to give United energy, he failed to deliver. Couldn't stop Dani Alves marauding down the right and didn't counter-attack with any conviction.

Antonio Valencia - 4
Another hugely disappointing display. Was given two big tellings off by his manager in the first half but failed to improve. No threat going forward, no help tracking back.

Wayne Rooney - 7
Looked frustrated for much of the game, but took his goal quite brilliantly to show his undoubted class on the big stage. Kept going right until the end too.

Javier Hernandez - 5
Looked like the occasion might have been too big for him. His touch was not assured as usual and link-up with Rooney almost non-existent.

Subs:

Luis Nani (on for Fabio, 68 mins) - 6
Came on at 2-1, but it was immediately 3-1 and had few chances to get involved.

Paul Scholes (on for Carrick, 77 mins) - 6
Threw himself into a couple of challenges, but no time to impose himself.

BARCELONA

Victor Valdes - 7
In truth, didn't really have much to do. No chance of saving Rooney's goal, but United could not get close enough to Valdes to test him in the second half.

Dani Alves - 8
Gave Barca boundless energy, never stopped running up and down the right flank and showed some deft touches too. Outclassed Park.

Eric Abidal - 8
A monumental performance from the left-back only two months after undergoing surgery on a liver tumour. Had Valencia in his pocket.

Gerard Pique - 7
Unflappable as always, Pique had little to do and had the best view in the house as his team-mates put on a masterclass of attacking football.

Javier Mascherano - 8
Considered a risk at centre-half before the game, the Argentine started off shakily but grew in stature and before too long looked like he had played there his entire career.

Sergio Busquets - 9
If all eyes were on his behaviour, he was impeccable - and his positioning, tackling and distribution were world-class too.

Xavi - 9
The man for the big occasion, Xavi was immense. He constantly probed away for gaps in the United defence and his pass for Pedro's opener was stunning. Must have eyes in the back of his head.

Andres Iniesta - 8
The little maestro with the electric feet was also at it again. The odd stray pass apart, Iniesta was untouchable - and United could not get close to him.

Pedro - 8
Pedro's currency is goals - and he did not disappoint. Became the first Spaniard to score in a European Cup final for Barca and has an uncanny knack of grabbing crucial strikes.

David Villa - 8
Moved from a central position to wide on the left early on and threatened with a couple of shots before curling home a splendid third in the second half to wrap it up.

Lionel Messi - 10
A performance worthy not just of the world's best footballer, but one of the greatest that has ever lived. Irresistible all evening, United couldn't get anywhere near him, as they proved by giving him the freedom of the park to score Barca's second.

Subs:

Seydou Keita (on for Villa, 86 mins) - 6
In any other team in the world, the superb Mali midfielder would start every game.

Carles Puyol (on for Alves, 88 mins) - 6
The club captain, their heart and soul. Unlucky not to start, but will enjoy every minute of the triumph nevertheless.

Ibrahim Afellay (on for Pedro, 90 mins) - 6
Dutch winger got a few seconds - probably as thanks for teeing Messi up to score their first in the semi-final first leg in the Bernabeu against Real Madrid.

Higher or lower? Tell me whether you agree or disagree with these marks, either by posting a comment below or by getting in touch with me on Twitter @Stevo_football.

The Argentine's biographer Luca Caioli thinks for a moment. "Messi's football is so good right now that the only person we have to compare him to is Diego Maradona, because like Maradona he can change the story of a match by himself," he says. "And if you look at Maradona, he was at his best in the 1986 World Cup, when he was 25. Messi is 23. So can Messi be better next year? Of course.

"No-one can really predict what will happen to this boy. Every trainer I interviewed for the book, from his first in Argentina - Salvador Ricardo Aparicio - to his Barca coaches Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola and his former Argentina boss Alfio Basile all told me the same thing: 'We don't know what the limit is for this kid'."

On Saturday, with a heavy weight of expectation on his shoulders, Messi will lead Barca into battle at Wembley as they take on Manchester United in the Champions League final, a chance for the Blaugrana's number 10 to take himself and his all-star team a little further down the road to immortality.

Messi, Barca's leader by prolific example, is a phenomenon, a sportsman who does impossible things as a matter of course. It is perhaps more remarkable that in an age when many of his peers seem vaingloriously obsessed by self-promotion, he carries out his acts of genius while wearing a look of guilt that suggests he's not entirely sure he should even be there in the first place.

"He's a very timid person, hugely shy," adds Caioli. "I spoke to his best friend when he was a child, Cintia Arellano, and she told me he didn't speak at school. Even now, it's hard to tell what mood he's in." When he arrived at Barca as a 4ft 7in 13-year-old, his fellow under-graduates were bemused. "We thought he was mute," admitted Gerard Pique.

In the 10 years since his arrival at Barca's famed La Masia academy, Messi has let his feet do most of the talking. Today, the discussion over the identity of the world's finest player - for so long pitting Messi against Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, his polar opposite - barely exists; instead, the debate centres on whether Messi deserves to be bracketed with legends such as Pele, Maradona and Johan Cruyff.

"Yes, he is on his way to becoming one of the greats," said former Barca player and coach Cruyff last month. Even Maradona, not a man prone to extolling other people's virtues, has acknowledged Messi's threat: "Only at the end of history will we see who was the greatest, Maradona or Messi."

Messi's goalscoring record in the last three seasons is staggering. Pic credit: BBC

I asked Roberto Carlos, who played directly against Messi several times, what he was like to face. "He has absolutely fantastic speed in the dribble," said the former Real Madrid left-back. "It was very, very hard to play against him. He is the best in the world no question, and he is young so he has plenty of time to improve too."

Argentina coach Sergio Batista is well versed in footballing legend. Given his history and his current job, the 48-year-old - a man who won the World Cup playing a supporting role alongside Maradona in 1986 - is superbly placed to discuss the planet's most talked-about sportsman.

"Leo is a virtuoso," Batista told me. "He does things with the ball that just seem impossible. He's got great ability. His control of the ball when he is running at high speed is excellent. He has a superb shot. There is precision in his passing. To summarise... he's got everything. He has every single attribute you would want to find in a player. That's the reason why he is the best footballer in the world."

I asked Batista to describe what it is like to take a training session comprising Messi. "He likes to be permanently in contact with the ball, of course," he says. "In every session he has the same enthusiasm and he is always one of the last to leave the pitch at the end. He likes to stay until after the finish, to have a play with the ball on his own or do some training exercises with the goalkeepers. He just loves to play."

And how we love to watch him. There are many different ways of enjoying sport, but I live in constant hope that one of the protagonists will take my breath away. I not only want them to do something I know I couldn't; I want them to do what I hadn't even imagined was possible.

Step forward Messi, sport's ultimate 21st century inventor. He creates space where there appears to be none; it often seems as though he is playing in a vacuum which no-one else can get close to, and when he gets in front of goal he finds new ways of putting the ball into the net. He doesn't just do things better than everyone else, he is now doing them with devastating relentlessness too.

He did not start his career as a striker, but Messi has scored 52 goals this season. We're talking about a half-century in a sport that is not supposed to deal in such figures. Fifties are the reserve of the batsman celebrating a run milestone in cricket, or the thrower checking out with a bull in darts. Before Messi, it was not considered possible in one of the best football leagues in the world. Before Messi, it wasn't possible.

True, Ronaldo has scored 53 times this season. But consider this: when Messi scored his second goal in the Bernabeu in Barca's Champions League tie at Real Madrid in April, it was his 52nd strike in 49 games. It all-but sealed a place in the Champions League final and Barca had already wrapped up a third successive La Liga title.

At the same time Ronaldo, who failed to get on the scoresheet in the semi-finals in Europe, had 42 goals in 49 games. In his last four La Liga games, with the title gone and Real out of Europe, Ronaldo has run riot, scoring 11 goals and reaching 40 in the league. Hugely impressive? Yes. Record-breaking? Yes. But there is an element of personal glory about it, as he and his team-mates - who have concentrated on helping Ronaldo - have conceded.

Messi, on the other hand, has gone without a goal since the colossal second he scored in the Bernabeu that night in April. As Barca took their foot off the accelerator the club's - and Messi's - focus turned to Saturday. "Goals are only important if they win you games," he says. "My interest is in the collective success of the team, not individual glory."

Messi, being kept fresh for Saturday's final, did not even feature in Barcelona's final two league games, his last appearance coming on 11 May in a 1-1 draw at Levante. He has been itching to get back on a football field, cutting a frustrated figure as he sat on the bench for the whole 90 minutes against Deportivo on 15 May.

I cast my mind back six years to another occasion when he sat on the Barca bench and what, in a footballing sense, is starting to feel like a JFK moment.

When Messi scored his first goal for Barca on 1 May, 2005, I was watching Barca-Albacete on TV at home. A routine 1-0 win for Barca seemed to be on the cards when manager Rijkaard threw on a fragile-looking 17-year-old in the 88th minute of the league contest.

Within two minutes of jogging on to the pitch Messi had a cute finish disallowed for a marginal offside and less than a minute later he had his goal - the precocious one belying his tender years to play a give-and-go with Ronaldinho, keep his composure and loft the ball sublimely over the on-rushing goalkeeper and into the net.

It was a thunderbolt moment; a handful of seconds etched into my consciousness, in the beginning thanks to the captivating nature of the cameo and now, six years later, for what it has come to represent: the first significant act of one of the finest footballers of them all.

Typically for one so humble, Messi recalls the day by paying tribute to Rijkaard: "I'll never forget the fact that he launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only 16 or 17."

Rijkaard wasn't the only one. Upon collecting his Ballon d'Or trophy in 2006, Ronaldinho gave the world notice of what was to come. "This award says I'm the best player in the world, but I'm not even the best player at Barcelona. Since he began to come and train with us we knew we would go down this path. Someday I will explain that I was at the birth of one of the footballing greats: Leo Messi."

Messi's career has since gone through the stratosphere. Trophies, awards, accolades, praise from peers and adulation from audiences everywhere has justly followed every goal he has scored and every beautiful moment he has created.

But where did his drive, his burning desire to succeed, come from? I asked Caioli, who spoke to the man himself as well as a collection of family, friends, coaches and colleagues to put together his book: 'The Inside Story of the Boy Who Became A Legend'.

"You cannot underestimate how much this boy wanted to become a footballer," said Caioli, who has also written books on Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho. "He took difficult, brave decisions. He left home when he was 13, a small boy, and accepted staying at Barca's academy at La Masia, thousands of miles away from his family in Argentina.

"But you can't possibly know you're going to become a footballer. You can lose, no? He had the will to try, he had the determination to succeed. This passion he has for the game, it is so pervasive it enables him to put everything else in his life to one side."

It is just as well that Messi does not let outside influences effect him. He has been called a "genius" by Maradona, a "sensation" by Cruyff and a "PlayStation footballer" by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. "Once, they said they can only stop me with a pistol - but you need a machine gun to stop him," said Barca legend Hristo Stoichkov. After a Messi exhibition in one game last year, Real Zaragoza's Ander Herrera went further: "I'm not sure he's human."

On Saturday, Messi will be hoping to score his first goal on English soil and have another decisive say on European football's annual showpiece. After a disappointing 2010 World Cup he will have to wait another three years to deliver on the biggest stage of all, but a global audience of hundreds of millions provides him with a significant platform in the interim.

Messi's place in the pantheon of greats is already assured; the only question now is whether he can reach the summit. On Saturday night, we may be a little closer to finding out. "I don't obsess about being the best in the world," said Messi in an interview once. But then again, he doesn't have to.

Statistics courtesy of Infostrada Sports.

They whittled the list - exclusively made up of European Cup winners as well as Brazilian sides Santos and Sao Paolo - to three and were in total agreement that the Real side comprising Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas that thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in the 1960 European Cup final was without equal.

Here were the candidates, along with a choice quote from one of the panel.

British teams:

"It was almost written in the stars that it should be 10 years after Munich" - Ingham

Manchester United, 1999
"They scared the bejesus out of everyone in Europe that season" - Marcotti

Liverpool, 1984:
"Liverpool won it so often in such a short space of time, but this was their best team" - Armfield

Nottingham Forest, 1980:
"When you talk about iconic managers, Brian Clough is the guy you're talking about. He made it all possible" - Ingham

Celtic, 1967:
"What a remarkable team that was, and not just because they were all born so close to the ground. But it was a fairytale" - Armfield

South American teams:

Santos 1962:
"That was the team that saw Pele at his absolute best. They went to Benfica in the Intercontinental Cup and were 5-0 up in Portugal. Pele said it was his greatest performance" - Vickery

Sao Paolo 1993:"To give you some idea, they beat Johan Cruyff's Dream Team in 1992 in the Intercontinental Cup and then Fabio Capello's AC Milan a year later" - Marcotti

European teams:

Real Madrid 1960:
"It was a kind of football was hadn't seen before. They had the whole package, and the star that shone brightest was Alfredo di Stefano" - Armfield

Benfica 1962:
"They had Germano, one of the best central defenders I've ever seen, and Eusebio. Those two players took them to greater heights" - Armfield

Inter Milan 1965:
"The big innovation was manager Helenio Herrera with his brand of counter-attacking football that became known as Catenaccio" - Marcotti

Ajax 1972:
"Total Football wasn't a system, it was a philosophy. Johan Cruyff's wandering was pivotal to it. They were ground-breaking" - Ingham

Ajax 1995:
"There was a great blend of youngsters and older guys. That team was about the system - Louis van Gaal's system" - Marcotti

AC Milan 1989:
"Arrigo Sacchi's was the last great tactical innovation in football. Never had a side pressed like that side did. That's why they were a cup team" - Marcotti

AC Milan 1994:
"If you were looking for wow factor, look at the Barca team in 1994. But Milan, their team that European Cup final night when they beat Barca 4-0 - they were on a different planet" - Ingham

Bayern Munich 1975:
"They beat my Leeds team in the final that year. They had two aces - Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller, who could get a goal out of nothing" - Armfield

Barcelona 1992:
"That was just a phenomenal team. But if I could single one out, it would be Michael Laudrup, who was one of the purest, most elegant players I've ever seen" - Marcotti

Barcelona present:
"They have redefined a style of playing with over 70% possession. No-one else does this. Of course they can be beaten. but if they win on Saturday against Man United, they will have won it unlike anyone else before" - Marcotti

Having narrowed it down to Liverpool's class of 1984, Real Madrid's 1960 vintage and the AC Milan team of 1989, the panel plumped for Di Stefano and Puskas.

Let us know whether you agree. And do you think Barcelona, if they beat Manchester United at Wembley on Saturday, could potentially rival Real for their crown?

For Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers, a dramatic season of highs and lows was suddenly consigned to the dustbin of history. Despite teetering on the brink of relegation, it only mattered that they had both secured their Premier League status for another campaign.

When managers Mick McCarthy and Steve Kean appeared in the media room at one of English football's grand old clubs in the aftermath of Blackburn's 3-2 victory, they looked as though they had been to hell and back.

Wolves and Blackburn fans are united in their Premier League survival celebrations

"Emotionally I've been through the wringer," said McCarthy, who had to watch on helplessly during a second half in which his Wolves side were in and out of the relegation zone so many times because of events at Molineux and elsewhere that at one stage the fans had to remind their team what they needed to do to survive.

"I'm sick of permutations," he spat, unable to hide his disdain at not being able to focus solely on his side's performance. "I knew they'd matter, of course. But the excitement generated by five teams being in the scrap at the bottom on the final day is outrageous, really."

Outrageous is a perfect way to sum up the sequence of events that unfolded on Sunday. Going into the game 15th (Blackburn) and 16th (Wolves) in the table, both sides knew that a win would keep them up, but that any other result meant they were relying on other teams to do them a favour.

Blackburn started like a train, hitting their hosts on the break with speed and guile as strikers Jason Roberts and Junior Hoilett caused panic in the Wolves' rearguard. McCarthy's men had no answer - by half-time Roberts, Brett Emerton and Hoilett had given Rovers a seemingly unassailable 3-0 lead and all but secured their safety.

"It's been a bumpy ride, the last six months, but that first half is the best 45 minutes we have put together this season," said a relieved Kean, who took over from the sacked Sam Allardyce in December when Blackburn were 13th in the table and led them to a 15th-placed finish, four points above the drop zone in the final analysis.

But at half-time, with Blackpool surprisingly holding Manchester United at Old Trafford and Birmingham level away at Spurs, Wolves were the bottom three. "We knew that wouldn't help us, it wasn't a good thing for us," said Kean. "We knew they would throw caution to the wind."

So what, with his side 3-0 down at home to a fellow bottom six club, did McCarthy say to inspire his troops? Surprisngly, perhaps, he chose a low-key approach.

"There weren't a whole load of expletives, no," revealed McCarthy. "There was no point, because the lads were on their knees. It was more a case of encouraging. We had to pass it better, deal with balls into the box, just play better really.

"I told them to go and score one goal, because that might be the goal that keeps us up. And if you score one, go and get another, cos that might help too. We knew goal difference could be the deciding factor. They responded."

And how they responded. Wolves threw on striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake for defender Michael Mancienne and after Stephen Hunt headed a gilt-edged chance wide, Ebanks-Blake fired off target from 20 yards.

The hosts were handed a lifeline by keeper Wayne Hennessey's brilliant low save to deny Hoilett after Kevin Foley's slip but as the Blackburn supporters partied like it was 1995, some Wolves fans could hardly watch, choosing instead to check their phones or listen to the radio as results filtered through from other grounds; results that were having a defining impact on their status as a Premier League club.

Spurs went in front against Birmingham, which meant Wolves were momentarily out of danger; Blackpool took a shock lead at the champions, but they were quickly pegged back. As news continued to filter through, McCarthy was constantly being kept abreast of the situation.

"Someone on the bench was giving me pieces of paper," said the former Republic of Ireland manager. "They either read 'We're down' or 'Happy days'. The message was clear."

When Jamie O'Hara's clever free-kick pulled Wolves back to 3-1 it changed nothing, but within five minutes huge goals in other games threatened disastrous consequences. Wigan took the lead at Stoke and then west Midlands rivals Birmingham, unthinkably, equalised at Tottenham.

An eerie silence descended on Molineux. With 15 minutes left of a captivating Premier League season, Wolves were going down, poised to return to the Championship along with already relegated West Ham and Blackpool, now losing 4-2 at Man United.

Their cause seemed lost. But a few people, somewhere high up in the Steve Bull Stand, had realised what Wolves needed to do, and started getting their message across through song. It was a matter of seconds before the majority of the 29,009 present were singing "One goal, we only need one goal," a revelation that looked as though it had been lost on the players on the pitch.

It was true. If Wolves could manage just one more goal in the handful of minutes remaining, even though it would mean losing the game 3-2, it would keep them up at the expense of Birmingham on the basis of goals scored.

As the clock ticked down the home fans bayed for the goal that would bring salvation, and when it came their delirium was a sight to behold. Hennessey's long punt downfield was flicked on by Steven Fletcher and Stephen Hunt, cutting in from the right, unleashed a left-foot thunderbolt that flew into the far corner from 18 yards and left Paul Robinson flapping at thin air.

It was joy unconfined for the Molineux masses as men, women and children hugged each other and wept openly in the aisles. It was no place for a neutral, though those few of us present should feel lucky to have witnessed such unbridled glee.

With both teams safe, there was a brief lull as neither side volunteered an attack. "Mick gave me a look at 3-2 and I knew we were both OK," said Kean after. McCarthy told it slightly differently: "I gave him the spaniel eyes. We'd had a ding-dong battle for 92 minutes, so I think you can forgive us the finish."

A Birmingham goal at White Hart Lane could still gatecrash Wolves' party, but when it emerged Spurs had won the match 2-1 in injury time there was no longer any doubt about the outcome: Wolves, in the most incredible fashion, and Blackburn, had both survived.

Fans raced on to the pitch from every angle despite unrealistic PA announcements urging them to keep off. Eventually, after drinking every last drop of delight, they made their retreat, as first Blackburn and then Wolves were afforded a celebration in front of their own sets of supporters, a spectacle that would seem foreign on any other day but chimed in perfectly with proceedings on this most maverick of occasions.

Kean's thoughts in the news conference soon turned to next season, of how Blackburn's rich Indian owners could make a "significant investment" in the team and how it is now an "exciting time for the club".

His opposite number McCarthy, weary and almost demob happy, had no such thoughts for the future. "What will I do tonight? I might stay sober actually, just so I can remember the feeling. Then again, I might not. I'll sit on the sofa and have a bottle of beer and I'll enjoy what we've achieved."

McCarthy might not want to even think about football in the next couple of weeks, but for a cast of thousands at Molineux on a magical May day, it was a rich reminder of why we continue to live in thrall of the most beautiful game of all.

It's a topic that could fill endless hours of nostalgia, discussion and argument: which is the greatest club side of all time?

With superstars like Lionel Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in their ranks, the current Barcelona side - who face Manchester United in a much-anticipated Champions League final - have been talked up as one contender for the title and BBC Radio 5 live's Monday Night Club will bring together a panel of experts to debate the issue on 23 May, five days before the clash at Wembley.

But are Pep Guardiola's side better than the Real Madrid team of Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo di Stefano in the 1960s, Johan Cruyff's Ajax side in the 1970s, the Liverpool of Kenny Dalglish in the 1980s, AC Milan's all-conquering 1990s outfit or the Arsenal Invincibles of 2003-2004?

The Monday Night Club wants to know your take on the greatest club side of all time and they will use some of the comments from this blog on BBC Radio 5 live on Monday from 2100 BST as they attempt to come up with an answer to the question.

In no particular order, here's a list of 20 of the teams that should probably form part of the debate, but feel free to look outside the box and come up with a few of your own.

1. Barcelona, 1990s. Johan Cruyff's so-called 'Dream Team' won the Spanish title four years in a row and the club's first European Cup in 1992.
Stars: Ronald Koeman, Pep Guardiola, Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov.

2. Ajax, early 1970s. The team that gave the world Total Football, built by Rinus Michels and inspired by Cruyff, Ajax won the European Cup three times in a row from 1971-73.
Stars: Johan Cruyff, Ruud Krol, Johan Neeskens, Piet Keizer.

3. Liverpool, late 1970s. Champions of England in 1976, 1977 and 1979, Bob Paisley's Liverpool also won the European Cup in 1977 and 1978.
Stars: Ray Clemence, Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness, Kevin Keegan/Kenny Dalglish.

4. Celtic, 1967. Arguably the most remarkable team on the list, given that every single member of Jock Stein's European Cup winners was born within 30 miles of Glasgow.
Stars: Ronnie Simpson, Billy McNeil, Jimmy Johnstone, Bobby Lennox.

5. Manchester United, 1968. Ten years after the Munich Air Disaster, Sir Matt Busby had put together another superb United team that won the club's first European Cup.
Stars: Nobby Stiles, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Denis Law.

6. Arsenal, 2004. Arsene Wenger's 'Invincibles' became the first team in the modern era to go through a whole English league campaign without defeat.
Stars: Sol Campbell, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry.

7. AC Milan, 1989/90. Arrigo Sacchi, with the help of Silvio Berlusconi's millions, created one of the most formidable teams in history. They were the last team to retain the European Cup.
Stars: Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten.

8. Bayern Munich, 1970s. The greatest German side, Bayern became the third club to win the European Cup three times in a row from 1974-76, and have only won one since.
Stars: Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeness, Gerd Muller.

9. Real Madrid, 1950s/60s. Perhaps the team to which all others will always be compared. Won the first five European Cups and they played football way ahead of their time.
Stars: Francisco Gento, Raymond Kopa, Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo di Stefano.

10. Tottenham, 1960s. Under Bill Nicolson, they became the first English team in the 20th century to win the League and FA Cup Double in 1961 and won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1963 too.
Stars: Danny Blanchflower, Cliff Jones, Bobby Smith, Jimmy Greaves.

Pele is regarded by many as the finest player of all time. Photo: Getty

11. Santos, 1960s. Won several domestic honours, were South American champions in 1962 and 1963 and won the Intercontinental Cup in both years too as they dominated world football.
Stars: Gilmar, Coutinho, Pepe, Pele.

12. Manchester United, 1999. Sir Alex Ferguson's greatest United side. The club's most successful season ended with a remarkable Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League Treble.
Stars: Peter Schmeichel, David Beckham, Roy Keane, Dwight Yorke.

13. Liverpool, 1980s. Joe Fagan led the club to European Cup finals in 1984 and 1985, before Kenny Dalglish's side won the League and FA Cup double in 1986.
Stars: Bruce Grobbelaar, Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush.

14. Leeds United, 1960s and 70s. Don Revie's team may not have won too many friends, but they knew how to win - seven major trophies and never finishing out of the top four between 1965 and 1974.
Stars: Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter, Johnny Giles, Allan Clarke.

15. Barcelona, 2000s. Dutchman Frank Rijkaard transformed the Catalans, winning La Liga in 2005 and 2006 and the Champions League in 2006.
Stars: Carles Puyol, Deco, Ronaldinho, Eto'o.

16. Ajax, 1995. Louis van Gaal's team blended outrageous young talent with experience and they stunned Europe, beating a dominant AC Milan side in the Champions League final.
Stars: Frank Rijkaard, Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert.

17. Liverpool, 1990. Having lost the league title to Arsenal on the last day of the season in 1989, Kenny Dalglish's Reds responded in brutal fashion, cruising to an 18th title by nine points.
Stars: Alan Hansen, John Barnes, Peter Beardsley, Ian Rush.

18. Barcelona, 2009-present. Winners of a Treble in Pep Guardiola's first season in 2008-09, Barca won the title last season, again this season and are in the Champions League final once again.
Stars: Gerard Pique, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi.

19. Inter Milan, 1960s. Helenio Herrera's team, based around the Catenaccio defensive formation, won Serie A in 1963, 1965 and 1966 and the European Cup in 1964 and 1965 too.
Stars: Giacinto Facchetti, Luis Suarez, Mario Corso, Sandro Mazzola.

20. Nottingham Forest, 1978-80. Brian Clough took the club out of the old Division Two, won the League in their first season after promotion and secured back-to-back European Cups to boot.
Stars: Peter Shilton, Kenny Burns, John Robertson, Trevor Francis.

It might sound inoffensive to you, but the gut-churning, wretched picture of desolation it conjures up in my mind serves as a timely reminder of the worst three moments I've endured as a football fan.

No, my team have never gone bust or dropped out of the Football League; but by the age of 30 I had suffered four relegations (one, unthinkably, to League One), defeat in the FA Cup final and the premature death of Brian Clough, the greatest manager that ever lived.

Sad, desperate times all of them - but not as judderingly, sickeningly hard to stomach as three occasions when it felt like I and thousands of people around me had been lifted on to cloud nine, only to immediately find ourselves falling off the end of the world.

These are the games that consistently produce television gold. The prize is so great and the tension so all-encompassing that reasonable human beings do incomprehensible things - just ask Yann Kermorgant. They are thrilling, wonderful spectacles and if your team are not playing in them they are a prestigious part of the football calendar.

The triumph and the glory... Charlton beat Sunderland in 1998 in one of the great play-off games

And don't get me wrong, it's not that the prospect of watching top-flight football again at the City Ground doesn't give me goosebumps. It's just that, having witnessed at first hand Forest's extraordinary hat-trick of play-off capitulations, I'm not ready to plan trips to Anfield and Old Trafford quite yet.

Having been given the green light to write what I hoped would be a partially cathartic piece about Forest and the play-offs, I'm already racked with doubts. But cold comfort ahead of the two-legged semi-final tie against Swansea lies in being almost certain that football cannot possibly be as brutal again - for us Reds, anyway - as it was in 2003, 2007 or 2010.

Talking of which, let's deal with the past.

When play-offs were introduced to English football in the 1986-87 season, Forest were an established club in the old Division One, usually challenging in the top half of the table. Even after surprise relegations in 1993 and 1997, they managed to win automatic promotion the very next season both times. And that's where the bouncebackability ends.

It all started to unravel when Forest dropped out of the Premier League for the third time in 1999, a drop to the void from which they have never returned. After two years of expensive failure under David Platt and one of much-needed stability with Paul Hart as boss, former Reds defender Hart led his young team to sixth in the league in the 2002-03 season and the club's first encounter with the end-of-term lottery.

I went to the home leg excited about this voyage into the unknown and optimistic about our chances of getting past Sheffield United and making it to the final at the Millennium Stadium. I got into the spirit of it all so much I even donned a giant polystyrene hand for the first - and only - time.

That game was a relatively serene 1-1 draw, with little sign of the carnage to come at Bramall Lane five days later. Unable to get my hands on a golden ticket, I travelled back to the City Ground on Thursday,15 May 2003 to watch the second leg on TV from a bar inside the club's Trent End stand. It was heaving, and expectation soon began to permeate throughout the room.

Forest, shorn of key centre-back Michael Dawson, were second favourites, but they weren't playing like it. David Johnson fired in for 1-0 and, just before the hour mark, Andy Reid's volley sent us into delirium.

I got a text from a mate asking when and where we should meet the following day to start queuing for tickets to Cardiff, and that's when the drama really started to unfold.

Michael Brown's heavily-deflected free-kick at once hauled the Blades back into it, Steve Kabba's stunning volley levelled matters and with a bar full of people on the brink of hysteria, we headed into extra time.

It wasn't to be. Paul Peschisolido's jinking run and finish in the 112th minute meant Forest were behind in the tie for the first time and when Des Walker - who had headed into his own net 12 years previously when we lost the FA Cup final to Spurs, also in extra time - nodded past his own keeper it was all over, despite a last-gasp consolation making it 4-3 (5-4 on aggregate).

Des Walker (right) heads into his own net and Forest's Premier League dream ends in 2003

I'll never forget surveying the wreckage of that room after the final whistle. Someone threw a glass at one of the screens, shards flying off in all directions, and that was my cue to leave. I sat on the banks of the River Trent, wondering how I could have reached the age of 22 without realising that following Forest could be even crueller than supporting England (Italia '90, Euro '96, France '98).

I was ill for five days in the aftermath of that defeat. The doctor might have diagnosed it as gastro-enteritis, but I knew differently. Our first encounter had seen the play-offs hit me for six, but I knew there would be more.

Four years on and Forest had sunk even lower. The club failed to recover from 2003 and two years later were ignominiously relegated to League One, in the process becoming the first European Cup winners to be demoted to the third tier of their domestic game.

Under unconvincing manager Colin Calderwood they had a chance to bounce back at the second attempt when finishing fourth in 2006-07, setting up a two-tie showdown with Yeovil, an outfit well-versed in giant-killings throughout their history.

It was immediately - yet forgivably - billed as David v Goliath; the two-time champions of a continent versus a club that had spent its history in the non-league until 2003. When Forest won the first leg 2-0 at Huish Park in front of fewer than 9,000 spectators, a first trip to the new Wembley seemed assured.

The second leg on Friday, 18 May 2007 remains the most inexplicable football match I have ever seen with my own eyes.

We lost 5-2. At home. To Yeovil. After extra time.

I still can't believe it. With 81 minutes gone, Forest led 3-1 on aggregate - but an Alan Wright own goal and Marcus Stewart header forced the extra half hour, with Forest reduced to 10 men after second-half substitute David Prutton's kamikaze cameo had ended in a stoppage-time dismissal.

Reds midfielder Gary Holt immediately cancelled out Lee Morris's 92nd-minute strike, but with all our subs used up and the stricken Wright unable to walk, defeat for the nine men was inevitable, Aaron Davies applying the coup de grace to leave both sets of supporters in a state of bewilderment.

Promotion followed the year after (automatic, naturally) and soon the Championship play-offs came calling again. Except this time it felt different. The good times were back; the expectation of yore replaced by a pride in Billy Davies and his refreshing young team's easy-on-the-eye style and impressive third-place finish.

After a 2-1 defeat at Blackpool in the first leg not many fans rocked up to the City Ground on Tuesday, 11 May 2010 already planning their trip to north London, but if it is the hope that kills you, I'd have been on life support for much of that night in Nottingham.

Rob Earnshaw struck either side of a DJ Campbell goal to twice level on aggregate going into the last 20 minutes, at which point memories of Sheffield United and Yeovil came flooding back as Forest surrendered in a manner which may have even surprised some veterans of '03 and '07.

Stephen Dobbie's effort was deflected in, Campbell curled agonisingly past Lee Camp and then the striker completed his hat-trick by firing in a rebound - the three goals coming in the space of seven soul-shattering minutes to leave Forest, who again grabbed a late consolation to make it 6-4 overall, on their knees.

At this point, I have to say I am aware that there are a million fans of other clubs who have their own nightmare play-off stories. I watched the epic 1998 final between Charlton and Sunderland on TV like everyone else and I was at the Millennium Stadium as a neutral in May 2001 to see Walsall break Reading's hearts in extra time.

If I've learned anything from my own team's history, it's that these games don't do rhyme or reason, they don't take into account form or history and they don't give a damn how crushing the manner of the defeat.

On Thursday, I'll arrive at the City Ground for my fourth date with the play-offs, chastened by what has happened in the past and intrigued as to whether our elimination can get any more surreal this time around.

Or maybe - after that bout of pessimism - it'll surprise me even more and we won't be knocked out.

Forest... At Wembley... Winning promotion... After eight years of nightmares, that is the dream.

We came up with only two problems: firstly, that it might look a bit silly to include players from the days of yore like Alfredo di Stefano and Ladislao Kubala alongside a picture (top right) of the blogger looking about 14-years-old; and secondly, have you seen how many world-class players have represented these teams down the years?

In the end, it was quite simple. We decided to take the entire last millennium out of the equation and pretend the world began in 2000. At least, I consoled myself while I crossed out the names of Diego Maradona and Michael Laudrup, 99% of you taking part in this debate will have seen the contenders in action.

So, what better way to celebrate four Clasicos in 18 days - with the second installment the Spanish Cup final on Wednesday in Valencia - than to choose your favourite Real Madrid and Barcelona teams from the past 11-and-a-bit years?

Real Madrid XI:

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas.
Easy enough to pick Spain's World Cup-winning captain, not least because he's worn Real's number one jersey with distinction since 1999, thus rendering anyone else pretty much irrelevant. Super reflexes, quick off his line and brave too.
Did you know? Despite not turning 30 until May, Casillas has played more than 400 league and 100 Champions League games for Real, and has more than 100 caps for Spain.

Right-back: Michel Salgado.
Salgado or Sergio Ramos - arguably the hardest choice in the Real XI. Salgado nicks it because of his superior defensive ability, needed in such an attack-minded side. If you want to know what he makes of Clasicos, read his column in this month's FourFourTwo. "Hate is a strong word, but Madrid want Barcelona to lose everything," he says.
Did you know? Salgado is married to former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz's daughter.

Left-back: Roberto Carlos.
Save for Paolo Maldini, if there has been a better left-back in the past 20 years I haven't seen him. Carlos gave the team energy, pace and attacking threat down that flank - and could you ever take your eyes off that stuttering run-up and thunderous free-kick?
Did you know? Carlos is the only non-European player with more than 100 Champions League appearances.

Centre-back: Fernando Hierro.
Real's skipper and inspiration, Hierro's never-say-die attitude made him the perfect foil for the creative whizz-kids at the other end of the pitch. He won La Liga five times and the Champions League three more in a stellar spell at the Bernabeu. "He was the captain of captains," said Raul.
Did you know? Hierro played in Real's Champions League final wins in 1998, 2000 and 2002. They have not been in the final since his departure.

Centre-back: Fabio Cannavaro.
Perhaps joined Real a shade after the best part of his career, but nonetheless a wonderful defender - and still the only one to be named Fifa Player of the Year. Cannavaro filled Zidane's vacant number five shirt with relish and won the league in his first two seasons in Madrid.
Did you know? On 12 August, 2009, Cannavaro won his 127th Italy cap - taking him ahead of the previous record holder, Paolo Maldini.

Centre-midfield: Claude Makelele.
Selling Makelele was perhaps the biggest mistake Real have made this century. With him, their phalanx of attacking players were free to create carnage; without him, they were rudderless. "We won't miss Makelele, his technique is average," said president Florentino Perez in 2003. After the signing of David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane begged to differ: "Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?"
Did you know? Makelele has appeared in a record eight Champions League semi-finals.

Centre-midfield: Zinedine Zidane.
A player of more astounding technical skills it is hard to imagine. Joined for a world record £46m in 2001 and blessed Spanish football with his captivating class until retiring after that World Cup final in 2006. The three-time Fifa Player of the Year's goal in the 2002 Champions League final will live long in the memory.
Did you know? In April 2002, Zidane became the first Real player since Canario in November 1960 to score a European goal at Barcelona's Camp Nou.

Right midfield: Luis Figo.
Gets the nod ahead of David Beckham because on his day the Portuguese winger was unstoppable. Joined from Barca in 2000 in one of the most controversial transfers of all time and enjoyed a wonderful seven years in Madrid, being named the world's finest footballer in 2001 and going on to win a record 127 caps for his country.
Did you know? In the last 50 years, eight players have moved from Barca to Real. Only one - Figo - has had a pig's head thrown at him as a result.

Left midfield: Cristiano Ronaldo.
The sheer volume of goals he has scored in almost two seasons at the Bernabeu almost beggars belief. He bagged 33 last season and already has 41 this time around - if it was not for Lionel Messi, he would be comfortably the most talked-about player on Earth. Finally got through a Clasico without defeat on Saturday, too.
Did you know? Ronaldo's buy-out clause is reportedly worth €1bn.

Striker: Raul.
A goalscoring machine whose heart belongs to Real Madrid. He left the club last summer after 16 trophy-laden years and 323 goals in 741 matches. Raul was a creator and a predator all rolled into one. "Real buy these big players like Figo, Zidane and Ronaldo but I think the best player in the world is Raul," said Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson in 2003.
Did you know? Raul moved to Real after Atletico Madrid chairman Jesus Gil shut down their youth academy where he was training.

Striker: Ronaldo.
The best thing about Il Fenomeno's retirement from football in February was the spate of highlights reels flying around showcasing the Brazilian in his magnificent prime. A striker of unparalleled physical power combined with an oft-overlooked finesse, before he was left ravaged by injury Ronaldo was unplayable.
Did you know? Ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 games for Barcelona in the 1996-97 season, aged 20.

Manager: Vicente del Bosque.
A Real man through and through. He won La Liga five times in a fine playing career at the Bernabeu and remains the last man to lead Real to the Champions League trophy, in 2002. Was bizarrely sacked a year later, one day after the club had won their 29th league title.
Did you know? Del Bosque was awarded the honorary title of Marquis by King Juan Carlos after leading Spain to World Cup victory in South Africa.

Barcelona XI:

Goalkeeper: Victor Valdes.
Almost as easy a choice as Casillas - it's easy to forget the 29-year-old Valdes has been Barca's first-choice keeper since midway through the 2003-04 season. After some shaky displays in the early days he has improved year after year and has won the Zamora Trophy for best keeper in Spain three times to Casillas's one.
Did you know? Since the 2001-02 season, Valdes leads La Liga in clean sheets - he has 131, Casillas 129.

Right-back: Dani Alves.
A man who tends to divide football fans in half. On the plus side he is a destructive force down Barca's right, starting attacks and creating goals and defying science with his boundless energy. But his play-acting and argumentative nature sometimes deflect from what a good player he is. Labelled his "natural successor" for Brazil by the great Cafu - no mean feat when Alves is competing with Maicon for the right-back privilege.
Did you know? Alves has assisted 13 goals in La Liga this season - second only to Lionel Messi.

Left-back: Gio van Bronckhorst.
Arguably under-rated as a full-back having started his career in midfield, 'Gio' was unwanted by Arsenal, 28 and on his way back from a year out with a cruciate knee ligament injury when he arrived at the Camp Nou in 2003. But he forged a superb alliance with Ronaldinho down the Barca left and helped them to two league titles and the Champions League in 2006.
Did you know? When Van Bronckhorst left Barca in 2007, it ended a 10-year period in which the Catalan club had employed at least one Dutchman.

Centre-back: Carles Puyol.
The heart and soul of Barcelona since he pulled on the famous Blaugrana shirt in October 1999. Puyol, a born and bred Catalan, has been club captain since 2004 and puts his body on the line every time he wears the armband. "Barca are the team every Catalan child wants to play for... I am living the dream," he once said.
Did you know? Puyol's surprise appearance after injury on Saturday was his 23rd in Clasicos. He hasn't missed a league match against Real since March 2001.

Centre-back: Gerard Pique.
Puyol's partner in crime since returning to the Camp Nou in May 2008 after a four-year spell at Manchester United. Tall, elegant, a masterful reader of the game despite only being 24, and with the ability to step out of defence and start attacks, Pique could turn into one of the great defenders of any era. Already has 13 major trophies to his name.
Did you know? Real Madrid have banned the 2010 World Cup song 'Waka Waka' since it emerged singer Shakira is in a relationship with Pique.

Centre-midfield: Xavi.
Arguably the world's best midfield player, it took Xavi a while to get the plaudits his perfect passing deserves, despite making his Barca debut all the way back in 1998. Unerringly accurate, he regularly completes more than 100 passes in a game, set up four goals in Barca's 6-2 win at Real a year ago, and was man of the match in the 2009 Champions League final against Man United.
Did you know? Xavi, who this season surpassed Migueli as Barca's record appearance maker, bought his mum a toaster with his first paycheck.

Centre-midfield: Deco.
Combative and skilful, Deco had one eye for a tackle and the other one for goal and the Brazilian-born Portuguese was a crucial component in the Frank Rijkaard era. His terrific work-rate made him the perfect foil for Ronaldinho - Luiz Felipe Scolari once said their partnership could "make rain fall".
Did you know? Along with Paulo Sousa and Secretario, one of only three Portuguese players to win the Champions League with two different clubs.

Centre-midfield: Andres Iniesta.
Another, like Xavi, who had to wait his turn to be appreciated. Iniesta's astonishing technical skills and reading of the game might have endeared him to the Barca fans, but his lack of goals was regularly highlighted as a major weakness for an attacking midfielder. Winners against Chelsea in the 2009 Champions League semi-final and the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final appear to have changed that.
Did you know? Iniesta's name has been applauded at every Spanish ground this season because of his winner in Johannesburg last summer.

Left forward: Ronaldinho.
How many other Barca players have ever been given a standing ovation in the Bernabeu? Ronaldinho was signed in 2003 after Barca missed out on David Beckham - perhaps the biggest slice of luck in the Catalan club's recent history. For three years he was out of this world; with that galloping stride, those mesmerising feet and a smile that charmed us all, in full flow he was truly a sight to behold.
Did you know? Ronaldinho scored five Clasico goals in the space of 18 months from November 2004 to April 2006.

Right forward: Lionel Messi.
The heir to Diego Maradona's throne in an Argentina shirt and Ronaldinho's in a Barca one - and he may yet go on to be better than them both. Messi is only 23, yet has been named the best player on Earth twice and this season already has 49 goals, breaking the Spanish record he already held with the Brazilian Ronaldo and Ferenc Puskas. Electric feet, clinical finishing, implausible balance... where will it all end?
Did you know? After watching a 16-year-old Messi against his Juventus side in a friendly in 2003, Fabio Capello asked: "Who is this little devil?"

Striker: Samuel Eto'o.
Goals, goals, goals. Eto'o, mind-bogglingly cast away by Real Madrid, was a guaranteed 25-a-season man and with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Deco, Ronaldinho and Messi teeing him up, he never disappointed. Eto'o scored in the 2006 and 2009 Champions League finals and left the club with Barca's first Treble as his legacy.
Did you know? Aged 15, Eto'o arrived at Madrid airport in 1996 to find Real had forgotten to send a representative to pick him up.

Manager: Pep Guardiola.
Could have made it into the team; after all, midfield general Guardiola only left Barca in 2001 after a successful 11-year spell. Returned to coach Barcelona B in 2007 and was - riskily - made first-team boss only a year later, winning the Treble in his first season as a coach. His contract runs out at the end of next season and Guardiola has hinted he may call it a day, but no-one in Catalonia will want him to leave.
Did you know? Guardiola counts Manuel Estiarte, apparently one of the finest water polo exponents of all time, as one of his closest friends.

I know - seven players from this season's Barcelona team. Is it too many, or does that reflect just what a top team this is? Only two from Real's current crop, but there is plenty of time for the likes of Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Karim Benzema to make their mark.

Maybe one day, when I'm old and grey, I'll get away with doing all-time XIs. Wonder how many of these boys would make it...

Since he first set foot in England nearly five years ago, it has often felt as though Avram Grant has been fighting a losing battle.

In almost five years he has had spells at Portsmouth (twice), Chelsea and West Ham; five years in which he has had to deal with a seemingly never-ending stream of rumour and innuendo about his future.

But as he faced the press on Tuesday night at Upton Park, after The Hammers had taken a step towards their first appearance in a Wembley showpiece for 30 years with a Carling Cup semi-final first leg win over Birmingham, Grant finally seemed to be at peace with his unenviable situation.

Besieged by questions for most of the last two months about his supposedly imminent dismissal, Grant has, this week, had to fend off speculation that West Ham will terminate his contract as manager at a board meeting on Wednesday.

Grant knew he would be asked the question yet again in the bowels of the Boleyn Ground on Tuesday, despite the manner of his team's 2-1 triumph after being reduced to 10 men early on in the second half with the score 1-1.

"I understand why you're asking," he began slowly, hands clasped in front of him.

His eyes scanned the room for an escape route from what must at times feel like his own personal adaptation of a Jean-Paul Sartre play, where hell is not just other people, but also journalists.

"However, there are seven teams in the Premier League in the same position as us, more or less, and yet I am the only one you keep asking these questions to.

"I'm not complaining against you because I know this is what you do, but you must realise I'm not the person to ask. If you want an answer about my future, you need to ask someone on the board, not me.

"I've lived with these rumours since day one at West Ham. If it was quieter, I believe it would help the players more. But I don't think about why it happens to me because I don't have time - I focus on the team and the players, that's all."

Avram Grant issues instructions to Scott Parker during the win over Birmingham - photo: Getty Images

Just as Grant thought he could get on with talking about the game, he was reeled back in with yet another question about his future. As silence fell over the media room, so a big smile appeared on his face.

"Don't worry about me. I know you worry about me, but try not to, I'll be fine," he said, breaking into laughter. "I really appreciate that you like me so much that you want me to be close to you. I like you also, by the way."

If it is an English trait to back the underdog, then few managers can have received as much support against the odds as Grant in recent years. What is most unfortunate about the seemingly imminent end to his tenure is that it looks likely to happen just as he seems to have turned West Ham's fortunes around.

Four wins and two draws from their last seven games do not immediately stand out as form dire enough for the Upton Park hierarchy to bring down an axe which has been hovering over Grant for what must seem like an eternity.

Only 11 days ago they had risen to 15th in the Premier League and were celebrating an impressive haul of seven points from three games over the festive period - a sequence which appeared to have given Grant a well-earned stay of execution.

But a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the extravagantly inconsistent Newcastle - a team that has also thrashed Aston Villa 6-0 and high-flying Sunderland 5-1 this season - appeared to make Grant's employers edgy once more.

What may have sealed Grant's fate further was his attack on director Karren Brady after she used her column in The Sun on Saturday to reveal the reasons why the Hammers pulled out of a move for Aston Villa's Steve Sidwell, who then signed for Fulham.

Grant, so used to keeping his counsel while all around him go public, did nothing to hide his fury. "All the things I have to say to the people at the club I say to them directly," he said. "We [Grant and Brady] don't have a problem but I speak with the owners. I'm dealing with the owners and that is the most important thing."

Judging by Monday's newspapers, which suggested Martin O'Neill and Sam Allardyce had already been lined up to take over from Grant, the co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan, in conjunction with Brady, have already made their minds up.

It would be ludicrous to suggest the West Ham board did not want to win on Tuesday with a Wembley final and everything that goes with it at stake, but if they are going to sack Grant he has not made it easy for them.

For 45 minutes, West Ham were magnificent, pouring forward with intent and quality and forcing Birmingham goalkeeper Ben Foster to make several fabulous saves to keep the visitors in the tie.

When they were pegged back to 1-1 in the second half and then rocked by the foolish sending off of Victor Obinna moments later, they stiffened their sinews, pooled their collective resources and, roared on by a wonderful crowd, scored a winner against all odds to take a slender lead to St Andrew's in two weeks' time.

It was no more than they deserved, and no more than their manager deserved for staying so dignified in such testing times.

My last press conference with Grant before Tuesday was at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in May 2008, after Chelsea's shattering defeat on penalties in the Champions League final at the hands of Manchester United.

Rain-soaked, desperate and defeated that night, he was sacked three days later. It may be asking too much to hope that the fates are kinder to Grant this time around.

At a news conference arranged by Belgian champions Anderlecht, their 17-year-old striker Romelu Lukaku will sit alongside the club's manager Ariel Jacobs and answer questions from the assembled media throng.

Having spent the best part of two years being the subject of all kinds of transfer speculation which has seen his name linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea almost on a daily basis, it is a chance finally for the teenager to do some talking of his own.

But just who is Romelu Lukaku? It is a safe bet that if you support one of Europe's biggest clubs, your team has been linked with his signature. That's not too surprising when you consider that this prodigious, precociously prolific goal-getter has set football in his homeland alight and fired warning shots of his talismanic talent around the world despite his tender age.

Suffice to say I'm glad I interrupted a non-football-based break to go along to a sparsely-populated Olympic Stadium and watch Lukaku in action in an otherwise entirely unremarkable Group G contest that ended 1-1.

I wanted to find out what all the fuss was about; I'd have liked longer, but it came down to 90 minutes to try to decide whether this young man was worth some of the hype he has attracted, or whether he is destined to be another footballer talked up to the extent that his actual ability could never match the ideal we have been sold.

The first thing that struck me was that Lukaku is a physical phenomenon. When he emerged from the tunnel, last in the Anderlecht line, I was genuinely taken aback by how a 17-year-old could be so developed. His upper body resembles that of a heavyweight boxer - something he underlined when he took his shirt off after the final whistle.

Lukaku is no normal 17-year-old and he's not a normal striker either. The 6ft 4in hitman is blessed with such fearsome attributes he can do everything a teenager shouldn't be able to - outmuscle defenders, win almost every aerial challenge and bring his team-mates into play. He was being asked by Anderlecht to play the lone striker's role of a man 10 years his senior, and though he battled away heroically, I couldn't help but feel something wasn't quite right.

My instincts were supported later by a couple of conversations with Belgian journalists about their country's new Wunderkind. Lukaku, they argued, is a rare talent, but he is not getting better at Anderlecht because they don't play in such a way as to improve his technical skills.

By firing long balls over Lukaku's head and using his pace and power to frighten opponents, Anderlecht are able to win the majority of their Belgian league games and some in the Europa League too. But his raw talent, like any 17-year-old, requires fine-tuning, and some believe he will only get that help when he moves to a bigger club.

Lukaku's physical attributes have seen him compared to Didier Drogba. Pic: Getty Images.

Lukaku, who still goes to school, may already be a victim of his own success. Last season he burst on to the scene at Anderlecht and finished the campaign as top scorer in the country with 15 goals as the Purple and Whites won the league by a mile ahead of Gent. The boy who played like a chiselled veteran was still only 16 years of age.

Nevertheless, he quickly became the fulcrum of Jacobs's side. Against Athens I watched him fight a brutal battle with the Greek side's central defenders Kostas Manolas and Cristian Nasuti, sometimes tussling for possession without a team-mate within 40 yards. He took kick after kick without ever once complaining and improved as the game went on, hitting the post and firing inches over in the closing stages as he fruitlessly sought a winner.

Yannick Ferrera, a former Anderlecht youth coach who has known Lukaku since he was 13 and used to give his protégé individually-tailored sessions, says it is the young man's attitude as well as his stature which helps to set him apart from his peers.

"Romelu has good people around him and a very good temperament," Ferrera told me. "He knows what he wants - it is to become one of the best strikers in the world and to play at the very highest level.

"Already, even at such a young age, Romelu can have all the cheques he wants, all the clothes he wants. He can have everything, that's not a problem for him. But now he wants to become a great footballer and that's good because it comes from his head.

"Even when I met him four years ago he was a leader of his team. He was obviously the strongest and the biggest in his age group but he always led by example and he always wanted to learn, something which is still the case today.

"I get more excited by him every time I see him play. I remember the first time he played with the first team - I felt real pride because I'd helped him to get there. I was really happy for him because he deserved it, he worked so hard. He's not a guy who thinks he's the best and doesn't have to try. He wants to work hard to get even better every single day."

Named Romelu after his father, Ro-ger Me-nama Lu-kaku, it is the striker's close relationship with his dad, himself a former professional footballer who played for several Belgian sides, that has been credited with keeping his feet firmly on the floor in the face of such early acclaim for his ability.

Madrid manager Jose Mourinho, a confirmed Lukaku admirer, has even praised his father's influence. "It is true we wanted Romelu, but he has a very clever dad," said the shrewd Mourinho in an interview in October. "He wants Romelu to stay at Anderlecht for one more year. I wish all dads were like this."

Whoever you speak to, they have only praise for Lukaku, both as a person and a player. "He is simply brilliant, as a human being and as a footballer," his Anderlecht and Belgium team-mate Silvio Proto told me.

Lukaku will leave Anderlecht one day and a great career lies in store, but in his homeland, they are hoping he can spearhead the Belgium attack for the next 15 years. It is a national team which appears to be entering a brave new world, with the likes of Eden Hazard, Steven Defour, Thomas Vermaelen, Vincent Kompany, Axel Witsel and Marouane Fellaini all establishing themselves on the international stage at the same time.

Proto, who is his country's resident number one goalkeeper, is excited about what the future holds. "It is very important we reach a major championship, because the 2002 World Cup was the last time and that is too long ago," he said. "At this moment, Belgium have a good generation of football players and we are working very hard to form a solid national team.

"Smaller countries like Belgium are finally investing in the education of professional football players. Before, Belgian clubs bought foreign players. But there is no money now and that is why, especially at Anderlecht, the club is investing in the youth academy. Lukaku is the first player to emerge from that system, but others will follow."

Follow, they surely will. In the Anderlecht youth team, there is another youngster creating waves with his mature performances, with some speculating that the 16-year-old will make his debut for the club's first team before the end of the season.

His name? Jordan Lukaku, Romelu's little brother.

Messi and Ronaldo are the two best players on the planet right now. They play weekly at a level most can only dream of, consistently overshadowing the abundance of world-class players who line up as their team-mates and opponents alike.

They are the last two winners of the Fifa World Footballer of the Year award and, despite being far from stereotypical centre-forwards in a positional sense, have each won a European Golden Shoe prize in the last three years. They have scored 27 La Liga goals between them already this term - four more than the next top scorers in the division, Villarreal.

After firing in three more goals in Real's 5-1 drubbing of Athletic Bilbao on the same day to stay one clear of his rival in the race for the Pichichi (Spain's top goalscorer), Ronaldo preferred to do his own talking: "I'm very happy for scoring three goals, but the important thing is that we continue being leaders. Barcelona's 8-0 win at Almeria doesn't tell me anything, Let's see if they score eight goals against us on Monday."

Messi and Ronaldo pit their explosive talents against each other in Barcelona on Monday

Monday is the day when Spain's top two meet for the first time this season, with Real Madrid a single point ahead of Barcelona in the standings. It is a game customarily filled with intrigue and the pre-match phoney war will be taken to new levels this time around with Barca's arch-nemesis Jose Mourinho overseeing his first Clasico in charge of Real.

But when the talking stops and referee Eduaro Gonzalez blows his whistle at 2000 GMT, the focus will then centre around Messi and Ronaldo - the two proxy leaders of their teams, the men who are almost certain to have the greatest impact on the result and, longer term, the destiny of the Spanish title.

So much has been written about them both before, these two fascinatingly contrary figures: Messi, the shy, formerly-fragile boy from Argentina who packed his bags aged 13 and put himself in Barcelona's care; and Ronaldo, the perma-tanned Portuguese with the perfect physique and arrogance to match his £80m attributes.

Perhaps it is because they are so unique, as far removed from each other as they are from the mere mortals who seek to attain their greatness, that they are so open to comparison. It is a point Noe Pamarot made to me when I asked the well-travelled Hercules defender to compare two players he has done battle with in La Liga in the past three months.

"The stats are amazing for both of them, it is incredible how many goals they score," said Pamarot, who also played against Ronaldo six times during a five-year spell in English football playing for Tottenham and Portsmouth.

"But they don't play anything like each other. They have both got the speed and the skills, but for me, Messi plays only for the team and that makes him a more dangerous opponent. He isn't always looking to score himself - if he isn't scoring, he is making an assist or having a big influence on the game anyway.

"They are comfortably the world's best right now. But Messi is very, very special. He is starting to prove weekly he is on a different level to everyone else. Can he be the greatest of all time? If he carries on like this for some more years, he can end up the same or even better than Diego Maradona and Pele. Why not?"

Pamarot's thoughts cast my mind back to a study of the pair conducted by the University of Coruna in Spain in April. It found that more than 80% of Barcelona's passing moves involved Messi, compared to 60% with Ronaldo and Madrid. When Messi gets the ball, his only thought is getting it into the back of his opponents' net; when Ronaldo picks it up, his is to put it there himself.

At a time when the fluid passing and movement style of Spain and Barcelona is fashionable and everyone wants to watch tiki-taka, Ronaldo's fearsome power and single-minded selfishness when he is within sight of goal is, to some, considered an inferior alternative, aesthetically-speaking anyway.

Another player who has been on the receiving end of the genius of Messi and Ronaldo is Ivory Coast midfielder Didier Zokora. The 29-year-old played against Ronaldo five times in his three-year stint with Spurs and was in the Sevilla team that suffered a 5-0 defeat at Barcelona a month ago in which Messi scored twice.

Zokora challenges Messi during a game in Seville in August. Photo: Getty Images

"The two of them are very good, for sure, but I prefer Messi," said Zokora. "Messi is perfect in the art of dribbling, while Ronaldo's shot is incredible. It is very difficult to stop them, they are very, very fast. Could one of them go on and be the greatest? It is difficult to say it, but maybe..."

For now, it is far easier to let the numbers do the talking. Courtesy of Infostrada Sports, here are the pair's breathtaking goal tallies in black and white:

Lionel Messi:
- 22 goals in 17 games for Barcelona this season
- 54 goals in 48 games for Barcelona in 2010
- Has scored in nine consecutive games for Barca
- In last five seasons (this season last), has scored: 17, 16, 38, 47, 22

Cristiano Ronaldo:
- 16 goals in 18 games for Real Madrid this season
- 38 goals in 42 games for Real Madrid in 2010
- Has scored 14 goals in 12 La Liga games this term
- In last five seasons (first three with Man Utd), has scored: 23, 42, 26, 33, 18

Chalk and cheese they may well be, but in the prolific way they find the net these men - who rarely play as out-and-out strikers - do at least have something in common. And according to the University of Coruna's study, that's not all. They also believe Messi and Ronaldo to be the two fastest players in the history of the game in terms of running with the ball.

So who do you pity more ahead of the game the whole footballing world will be watching, the Barcelona backline or the Real Madrid rearguard? I asked Pamarot who it is easier to play against, and he laughed down the telephone at me. "Haha. Seriously? OK, I want to play against both because they are the ultimate test of your abilities."

Plaudits from pundits and their peers have not been in short supply as the build-up to the most talked-about domestic fixture on Earth grows ever closer. "It is clear to me, Cristiano is number one," said Mourinho. After watching Barca and Messi rip apart his Panathinaikoas side in Europe on Wednesday, midfielder Luis Garcia purred: "Messi is a phenomenon. One can only enjoy his play. Such a player only comes by once in several decades."

Even the Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has got involved in the debate, claiming he prefers the "dribbles" of Messi to the playing style of Ronaldo, though his opinion should be taken with the caveat that the 50-year-old is a lifelong Barcelona fan.

On Monday, these two footballing phenomena go head-to-head before an expectant audience of about 98,000 people in Barcelona and tens of millions more on television around the world. They will both feel they have an extra point to prove, too: in seven games, Messi has never scored or had an assist against a Mourinho team; similarly in five, Ronaldo has never found the net against Barca.

With the likes of Maradona, Pele and Johan Cruyff all reaching the peak of their powers in different eras, perhaps we should be grateful that for this generation, the stars will collide in front of our very eyes.

There will be a live text commentary of Barcelona v Real Madrid on the BBC Sport website, starting at 1900 GMT on Monday.

On Saturday, Pele celebrates his 70th and exactly a week later Diego Maradona turns 50. Between them they have won four of the last 14 World Cups and taken part in another four, and in the process they have not only helped to redefine the boundaries of their sport, but they have become a part of all of our lives.

A striker with blistering pace, fearsome physical power, clinical finishing and the ability to head a ball as hard as most players could kick it, Pele was a force of nature on the football field. He scored more than 1,000 goals in his career, mostly for Brazilian club Santos, and retired after a two-year spell in the United States at New York Cosmos in the mid-1970s.

You don't need to have been alive while Pele was in his prime to appreciate the impact 'The King' - who scored 77 times in 92 games for Brazil - had on the beautiful game. As a young boy, I remember having to give a speech on a famous person to my class at school and I chose Pele. In the days before the internet, the football knowledge I'd soaked up in my formative years were enough to tell the great man's story.

Little did I know at the time that the captain of Argentina, who I then hated for knocking England out of the 1986 World Cup, would finish his career as Pele's only real rival for the title of football's greatest player.

Growing up in desperate poverty in the shantytown of Villa Fiorito in Buenos Aires, Maradona's was the classic rags-to-riches story. Similarly outstanding in his teens this was a boy clearly touched by genius, making his international debut at 16 and scoring 34 times in 91 games for the country he was so passionate about.

Unlike Pele, however, much of Maradona's career was tainted with controversy. For every wonder goal there was a scandal to match, with the 1986 quarter-final against England perfectly encapsulating El Diego. Four minutes after his 'Hand of God' put Argentina ahead, he wove his way through the England defence to score, at least in my opinion, the greatest goal the game has seen.

As a five-year-old who didn't fully understand what had happened, I cried at the unjust nature of Maradona's victory and rejoiced when he lost the final four years later, delighted that this time his World Cup had ended in tears too.

These days, I own a T-shirt with a graphic illustration of THAT goal - a moment of such hypnotic, artistic beauty I could watch it a million times over. Time truly is a great healer.

He almost single-handedly won the 1986 World Cup as well as two Serie A titles with unfashionable Napoli and his breathtaking close ball control, allied to a warrior's determination and a wonderful arrogance in front of goal made him as near to unplayable as a footballer has ever been. Think Lionel Messi, only better.

Of course, no Maradona discussion can ever take place without mention of the drug abuse that nearly cost him his life or the multitude of controversies that seem to follow his every move. That much was highlighted during his spell as Argentina coach, which ended in typically furious fashion after the World Cup in South Africa when his side were humiliated by Germany in the quarter-finals.

But that only seems to intensify the debate as to who really is the best football player ever. Everyone has an opinion and it is a debate that even the sport's world governing body, Fifa, has been unable to settle convincingly.

In 2000, Fifa decided to have a vote to find the 'Player of the Century', which took the form of an online poll. Maradona won it comfortably, which led to concerns that the age of internet users meant more people who saw the Argentine play would be able to cast a vote than those of an older generation who saw Pele.

So Fifa asked its "football family" to decide, which consisted of two components - ballots sent in from subscribers of the organisation's quarterly magazine and those cast by a special international Fifa jury. Pele won that one by a landslide.

When it came to the Rome gala, Fifa decided to split the award in two and announced Pele and Maradona as the two greatest players of all time. "I had the vote of the people, Pele won by forfeit," said Maradona, who walked out of the auditorium before watching the Brazilian collect his award.

Their so-called feud has gone on for years, but is it borne out of genuine animosity or it is nothing more than fabricated fun? It threatened to get serious in 2000 when Maradona accused Pele of letting his former Brazil team-mate Garrincha "die in misery", which Pele put down to Maradona being "an ill man".

However, when Maradona began a new career as a chat-show host in Argentina in 2005, Pele was the first guest he invited on, the pair chatting away amiably and even indulging the audience in some head tennis. Pele congratulated Maradona on beating his drug addiction, telling him: "You are an example because you are a conqueror".

On the show, Maradona body swerved the question of who was the better player. "My mother says it was me and Pele's mother says it was him," he said.

For the record my mum reckons Pele edges it, but it is a debate that will run for time immemorial. As we celebrate milestones in both of their lives, it seems like a good time to reflect on the incredible memories both Pele and Maradona gave us and, for the umpteenth time, ask ourselves one of football's favourite questions.

I'd love to hear your favourite stories of both men. But who do you think is really the greatest footballer that ever lived?

When Germans Schalke play host to Hapoel Tel-Aviv on Wednesday, they will be relying on the legendary figure of Raul Gonzalez Blanco, the tournament's record appearance-maker and goalscorer (66) to kick-start their so far sluggish season.

For Raul, playing in a struggling side is not something he is accustomed to; this, after all, is a man who can lay claim to one of the most glittering CVs in club football. Since winning La Liga in his first season in the Real team in 1994-95, he has added six more league titles, three Champions Leagues, two Intercontinental Cups, one European Super Cup and two Pichichi awards for top scorer in La Liga.

Granted an interview with the man still referred to as 'El Angel del Madrid' in his birthplace, I asked Raul to explain how he had ended up in Gelsenkirchen, the so-called 'city of a thousand fires'. "I came to Schalke because the manager Felix Magath convinced me," he said matter-of-factly.

"He's a very good coach and I like his philosophy. During our discussions I got the feeling he really wanted to sign me and sensing this trust is extremely important."

That belief has already been tested after a brutal baptism of fire in the Bundesliga for Raul, who saw David Villa draw level with him on a record 44 goals for the Spanish national team last week.

Ten games into his Schalke career, the highest scorer in Real Madrid's history with 323 goals has only a solitary strike, against Borussia Moenchengladbach, to show for his efforts, with the Royal Blues languishing one point off the bottom of the league.

But there is no doubt in Raul's mind he made the right decision. "It's obviously a totally new experience for me - a new club, a new country, a new league," he told me. "But I made a very conscious decision because I wanted to play abroad after Real.

"The Bundesliga is a very strong league and there are no easy games here. Just look at Mainz - they are a really young team who are causing a sensation and they went away and won at reigning champions Bayern Munich. That's what makes the league so fascinating.

"You've then got the superb stadia and the atmosphere too. The grounds are always full and the noise is superb, the fans are incredible and we get fantastic support whether we are at home or away."

I get the sense from Raul that a feeling of belonging, of being happy at Schalke is almost as key to him as the on-pitch success to which he eventually hopes to lead his new team.

After all, this is a man who was granted a news conference to announce he was leaving Real in July. With tears in his eyes he walked around the Bernabeu one last time and bade the club he had served for so long, and with such distinction, a final farewell.

President Florentino Perez, so fond of a 'Galactico' he would surely have bought Raul had the club not taken him in as a 15-year-old, summed up the feelings of most Madridistas: "There are a lot of men who are part of the history of Real Madrid. Raul has earned his place in the club's history with his tireless work and his infinite love and support for everything that's Real Madrid.

"I hope that all the players who will join Real Madrid in the future fit the legacy that Raul has left behind at this team. Raul represents everything that this club's about. He perfectly represents the spirit of Real Madrid."

All of which underlines the risk Raul was taking in prolonging his career away from a club he had become so inextricably linked to. He admits he had to think about the move for a long time before committing to Magath's vision, while some of Europe's most ambitious clubs circled the striker like vultures.

Tottenham were mooted to be especially keen, but Schalke were always at the top of Raul's list. "I felt it would be an important experience to get to know a new country, a new culture and a new mentality," he explains. "My family and I gave it a lot of thought and we are keen to sample everything that's new about life in Germany.

"I feel very much at home at the club, the people here are very attentive and very open and I like that. My family and I have settled very well, we have been made to feel welcome everywhere so far."

In fact, the only thing missing in the latest chapter of his story is a winning football team. It appeared as though Raul was hinting at a fairytale finale when he produced a moment of sublime magic to scoop a shot into the Bayern net in a pre-season friendly, but so far that has been a rare highlight of his spell at the Veltins-Arena.

Raul has not had much to celebrate during his time at Schalke thus far. Photo: Reuters

Schalke finished second last season, the fourth time in 10 campaigns they have been frustrated runners-up, but in the summer Magath ordered a complete overhaul of the playing staff.

Fifteen players were shown the exit door, including defender Heiko Westermann and striker Kevin Kuranyi, while 14 new ones came in, with Raul joined by, among others, German centre-back Christoph Metzelder, Spanish midfielder Jose Manuel Jurado and Dutch forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Until now Magath's revamp has failed to produce positive results, but this is a coach who won two German league and cup Doubles in his time as Bayern boss and led Wolfsburg to their maiden Bundesliga in 2009, so perhaps Raul - who saw his manager change 17 times in 16 years at Real - is right to give his new boss a chance.

"Schalke have been waiting a long time to win the league [1958, before the Bundesliga was formed] and it would obviously be great if we could do it," he says. "But we have to take each game as it comes.

"We've made a bad start in the league and we need to make up ground as quickly as possible on the teams above us in the table. But things are improving on the pitch and we have a very good coach, so we will continue to get better."

Despite their stuttering start, Raul is clearly proud of the new path he has chosen for his career. In fact the only thing he is not that interested in talking about is Real Madrid, but having spent half his life as a symbol of one of the world's biggest clubs, you can forgive him for wanting to distance himself from his old employers.

He admits he keeps "in touch with what is happening at Real, of course", but says he is not "giving any thought to [manager] Jose Mourinho and his work". I ask him if Mourinho is the man to end Barcelona's period of dominance in La Liga. "I couldn't tell you. I'm totally focused on the Bundesliga," comes the now half-expected reply.

Even over a short interview, it is easy to see why Raul has a reputation as one of the most consummate professionals of his generation. Whether the Spaniard's Schalke sojourn is a success or a failure there is no doubt he will give it his heart and soul, as he has done at the highest level for more than a decade-and-a-half.

There aren't many players who have been dubbed the 'best player in the world' by Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, as Raul was after masterminding a 3-1 win for Real in 2003. One should not forget that that particular game also featured the stellar talents of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and the Brazilian Ronaldo.

But then footballers like Raul don't come along very often. We should enjoy watching him before he hangs up those legendary boots for good.