Luis Suarez Better Than Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Says Cristian Rodriguez

Barcelona's Luis Suarez is better than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi because he plays "like a street footballer", according to the striker's Uruguay team-mate Cristian Rodriguez.

The former Atletico Madrid winger is surely in the minority given that Real Madrid's Ronaldo and Barca's Messi are widely regarded as not only the two best players in the world at the moment, but two of the best ever, per Sky Sports Adam Bate.

However Rodriguez, now at Argentine club Independiente, believes Suarez's style of play is what puts him above even Messi and Ronaldo, per Argentina's TyC Sports (h/t Dino Cappelli of Spanish outlet Marca): "Suarez is better than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, that's the way I see it. He doesn't mess around, he bears down on you and takes players on like a street footballer, which is why for me he's the best in the world."

Suarez is, undoubtedly, one of the top strikers in the world and was recently among the three-man shortlist—with Messi and Ronaldo—for UEFA's Best Player in Europe award, eventually awarded to the Argentine.

The former Liverpool striker netted against Juventus as Barca won the Champions League final back in June, and scored 16 goals and provided 14 assists in La Liga in 2014-15, his debut season with the Catalans, per WhoScored.com.

Such superlative stats are undoubtedly impressive, but they are not quite at the level of Messi and Ronaldo, both of whom have topped 25 league goals—often by some distance—in the last six full seasons, per WhoScored.

At 28 years old, Suarez is five months older than Messi and almost two years younger than Ronaldo, but his career goals tally is far inferior to either, per bet365:

On his day, Suarez, undoubtedly, reaches similar levels of quality as Messi and Ronaldo, and he is equally able to propel a team towards glory on his own—as he proved in the 2013-14 Premier League season when he almost inspired Liverpool to the title.

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However, it is the remarkable consistency of Messi and Ronaldo which sets them apart and makes them the players they are.

Suarez has his ups and downs—especially in a disciplinary sense—and thus is, arguably, just in the bracket below Messi and Ronaldo in the ranks of the world's best players.

Rodriguez, though, would seemingly beg to differ.