Dani Alves Discusses Why He Believes Neymar Is 'Superior' to Cristiano Ronaldo

Barcelona right-back Dani Alves believes team-mate Neymar is better than Cristiano Ronaldo because the Brazilian is more skilful and harder to defend against.

Per Sport, he told Brazilian newspaper O Globo the following:

"

It's more difficult to mark Neymar than Cristiano Ronaldo. I'm with Neymar every day and I'm against Cristiano every now and again. 

Ney has more technique, more of an objective, he doesn't put the brakes on so much, he's quicker... He has more magic, better dribbling skills...

That's the main difference between the two. Cristiano Ronaldo scores a lot of goals, shoots a lot and shoots well; he's also good in the air. But he doesn't know much about dribbling [anymore].

They have different characteristics, but the quality of Ney, I believe, is superior.

"

Alves expanded further on his compatriot and believes the 23-year-old has an incredible future ahead of him:

"

He can do whatever he wants to do. You get some players who are magic, touched by a wand, and Neymar is one of them.

If he wants to win the Ballon d'Or, he will win it. If he wants to be the top goal scorer for Brazil, he will be. He enjoys playing. Every season he's better. He's going to be like a fine wine.

"

His support of Neymar over Ronaldo is unsurprising, given they are team-mates at the Camp Nou. With Ronaldo almost 31, Neymar is well on his way to surpassing him, if he hasn't already.

Football journalist Rik Sharma believes as much:

The forward has notched 16 goals and nine assists for Barcelona in 18 games this season and notably stepped up in Lionel Messi's absence during the Argentinian's fairly lengthy layoff through injury, as well as playing a key role in last season's treble-winning efforts.

He demonstrates his incredible technique on a regular basis, perhaps none more spectacularly than his goal against Villarreal in November, in which he delightfully flicked the ball over a defender before volleying in.

JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images

Ronaldo's numbers are similarly impressive, as he has scored 21 goals and assisted on six in 21 appearances. However, he has failed to find the net in 11 of those matches. Those strong numbers are boosted primarily by hauls against Espanyol, Malmo and Shakhtar Donetsk.

Sharma noted this when Ronaldo scored the 10th of his 11 record-breaking Champions League group-stage goals:

Fellow journalist Rafael Hernandez also believes Ronaldo has been poor and indeed expects him to move on from the Bernabeu in the summer:

The Portugal international has been anonymous on a number of occasions in this campaign. 

On Ronaldo's tendency to dribble less, Alves also has a point. While the Ronaldo of Manchester United and his early days at Madrid was all about running at players with speed and trickery, that player has evolved.

Alberto Saiz/Associated Press

As Ed Alvarez of ESPN FC reported, the forward is attempting fewer dribbles than in the past and scoring from much closer to the goal—largely tap-ins created by his team-mates.

Sky Sports' Guillem Balague also noted Ronaldo is no longer "at his physical peak" due to his age and excessive time spent in the gym—which links to Alvarez's indication that while he's now stronger, he's also slower.

The 30-year-old will undoubtedly continue to score plenty of goals for the remainder of his career, which could easily last at least four or five more years, barring injury.

However, there are serious concerns over his ability to produce against more difficult opposition—when his team-mates struggle to create chances, so, too, does he find it difficult to get on the scoresheet, as he's no longer making things happen for himself the way he used to.

As for Neymar, the world is at the youngster's feet, and one day in the future, he'll likely overtake Messi as the best on the planet.