The former Real Madrid star feels the Liga BBVA duo would not have been the dominant figures that they are today had they been around during his time.

La Liga duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are undeniably the two most dominant figures in the world of football. This has been so for years, supported by the fact that the Real Madrid and Barcelona attackers have shared the last seven Ballon d'Or prizes.

Many football fans and pundits alike go as far as to label Ronaldo and Messi as football legends, the greatest of this generation. A defenders worst nightmare, a look at the Portuguese and Argentine aces' goalscoring stats should be enough to convince any doubter. They break records for fun, score hat-tricks on a regulare basis.

This is a notion backed by former Real Madrid star Luis Figo, who admits that Cristiano and Leo are “head and shoulders above the rest”. The Portuguese legend, however, questions whether they would have been the best in the world had they been around the football scene during Figo's time, when the likes of Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima and Zinedine Zidane were the beautiful game's leading talents.

"If I were a manager I would try to sign Messi or Cristiano, two great players who are head and shoulders above the rest," Figo stated.

"But I was fortunate enough to play with some fantastic players - both in my teams and as opposition - who were quite possibly even better than Cristiano and Messi."

Figo, a player who angered the Barcelona faithful after leaving Camp Nou for Santiago Bernabeu back in 2000, feels the Catalan giants, alongside Les Merengues, are favorites for both the Champions League and La Liga titles.

"The Champions League? This will be the year of either Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern, Chelsea..."

"La Liga? There is certainly a clear domination by the two traditionally strong teams, Barca and Real Madrid."

Real Madrid and Barcelona currently lead the Spanish Primera Division table, sitting in first and second spot respectively, and have booked their place in the Champions League round of 16.