Diego Maradona: 'Lionel Messi would not achieve what I did at Napoli'

Diego Maradona says that Barcelona forward Lionel Messi would not be able to have the same impact as he did at Napoli.

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 26 February 2020

Diego Maradona has claimed that Barcelona forward Lionel Messi would not be able to match his achievements at Napoli.

Maradona enjoyed a legendary stint at the Italian side, netting 81 goals from 188 league appearances and helping the club to two Serie A crowns and the UEFA Cup.

While Messi is unlikely to ever make the switch to Naples, his compatriot has suggested that he would not have the same impact as he did between 1984 and 1991.

Maradona is quoted by AS as saying: "Messi arrived at San Paolo in decline; Messi has not lived the life I have. Leo could play extraordinarily in Naples, but he would not be able to do what I did. Let's be clear about that."

Messi was part of the Barcelona side which squared off against Napoli in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday night.

Having fallen behind to a Dries Mertens goal, Antoine Griezmann netted an equaliser to earn the Catalan giants a 1-1 draw ahead of the second leg.

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Premier League Table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Real Madrid	32	25	6	1	70	22	48	81
2	Barcelona	32	21	7	4	64	37	27	70
3	Girona Girona	32	21	5	6	67	40	27	68
4	Atletico Madrid Atletico	32	19	4	9	59	38	21	61
5	Athletic Bilbao	32	16	10	6	52	30	22	58
6	Real Sociedad	32	13	12	7	46	34	12	51
7	Real Betis Betis	32	12	12	8	40	38	2	48
8	Valencia	32	13	8	11	35	34	1	47
9	Villarreal	32	11	9	12	51	55	-4	42
10	Getafe	32	9	13	10	38	44	-6	40
11	Osasuna	32	11	6	15	37	46	-9	39
12	Sevilla	32	9	10	13	41	45	-4	37
13	Las Palmas Las Palmas	32	10	7	15	30	39	-9	37
14	Alaves Alaves	32	9	8	15	28	38	-10	35
15	Rayo Vallecano	32	7	13	12	27	39	-12	34
16	Celta Vigo	32	7	10	15	37	47	-10	31
17	Mallorca	32	6	13	13	26	38	-12	31
18	Cadiz Cadiz	32	4	13	15	22	45	-23	25
19	Granada	32	3	9	20	33	61	-28	18
20	Almeria	32	1	11	20	31	64	-33	14