Mario Balotelli Slammed by Joey Barton in Direct Comparison to Luis Suarez

Joey Barton has claimed Mario Balotelli is the "biggest myth in world football" during a Twitter rant in which he compared the Liverpool striker to Luis Suarez, bringing together three of the sport's greatest pantomime villains.

Barton, who is never one to mince his words on social media, indicated Balotelli will never compare to Suarez during Liverpool's recent League Cup win over Middlesbrough. He believes Super Mario's nickname is unjustified and indicates the Italian is lucky to be playing at the top:

Barton also had some damning words for Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet—whose name he spelt wrong—after the Belgian saved one of 14 penalties before Albert Adomah fired wide to see Liverpool into the next round:

While it's natural of Barton to speak his mind on Twitter, many will see the funny side of him challenging Balotelli's quality. The midfielder is eight years older than Liverpool's new signing and has achieved a lot less in the game, outlined below:

	Joey Barton	Mario Balotelli
Years Professional	12	8
Senior Clubs	Man City, Newcastle, QPR, Marseille.	Lumezzane, Inter Milan, Man City, AC Milan, Liverpool.
Club Titles	1	9
International Caps	1	33
International Tournaments	0	2

Barton's performances have improved over the last couple of years, but he is a player who continues to make more of a splash away from the pitch. Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore and former boss Manchester City boss Mark Hughes are among those to have already received a verbal lashing on his Twitter feed.

Although Balotelli's performances have been underwhelming for Liverpool so far—scoring one goal in five appearances—he has proven himself across multiple leagues. He has 68 goals in 162 matches across Serie A, the Premier League and international commitments since 2009-10, per WhoScored.com. This equates to a goal every 2.38 matches across all levels, a decent stat considering he was just 19 when this run began.

The fact Balotelli isn't Suarez, who netted 31 Premier League goals during last season alone, seems to be weighing down Barton's perception of the Italian. All three players share one thing in common, however, as the trio rank among football's biggest troublemakers.

Balotelli is famous for receiving numerous red cards, letting off fireworks in his own home and wrestling with former City boss Roberto Mancini, among other things. Suarez's roll call includes being charged with racially abusing Patrice Evra and three bites on opposition players during matches, the most recent of which saw him banned for four months.

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Barton's worst moments are far more serious than his willingness to spew on Twitter. The midfielder's career has often ground to a halt due to his bad behaviour, which has certainly limited his progress over the years. Barton was previously sentenced to six months in jail for assault, allegedly stubbed a cigar out in the eye of a young team-mate and detached Ousmane Dabo's retina during a training-ground brawl. 

Balotelli is yet to respond to Barton's comments. He hasn't tweeted since his mocking of Manchester United saw a police probe launched due to "a number of accounts" sending racist messages in response, per Matt Davis of BBC Sport.

All three players are better off focusing on their sporting careers than causing unneeded problems. Suarez is perhaps the only star to have reached his potential, while Balotelli has plenty of work to do and Barton will never reach the stage he once promised to dominate. He will, however, continue to create headlines with controversial opinions.

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While it's extremely unfair to suggest Balotelli's talent is a "myth," Barton's comments are likely to resonate with Liverpool fans who wish to see the best of their bad-boy striker. Only Balotelli can prove his detractors wrong, starting with a smart performance in Saturday's Merseyside derby.