Napoli hero Alemao is adamant Diego Maradona was superior to Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

Comparisons are being drawn between the Argentine pair with Napoli to host Barca tonight in their Champions League first-leg round 16 clash.

Alemao won the Scudetto with Maradona and told Radio Marca: "Playing with Maradona cannot be described, you have to be there. He was a genius. Only his presence fixed problems.

"Messi is a phenomenon, a difficult player to find. But Maradona was a genius, he has been much more than him. Maradona has done much more than Messi also in his national team and that must be taken into account in the comparison.

"Messi has a team playing for him and it shows in Argentina, when he goes with the National Team."