Mario Gomez Had A Messi-Like Four Goals In Yesterday's Champions League Match, But Says "I'm No Messi"

Bayern Munich's Mario Gomez snuffed out Swiss side Basel's underdog dreams in the UEFA Champions League with a four-goal performance yesterday (courtesy a lot of help from Franck Ribery). Coming so soon after Lionel Messi's five-goal CL spectacular, comparisons were inevitable. Nonsense, says Gomez:

I'll never be as good as Messi and I'd never try to be [...] He's a completely different player to me. I don't see him as a peer. I see him as the ultimate footballer.

It's really unfair to compare anyone to Messi (or Cristiano Ronaldo, for that matter). We only fall back to it because memories of magisterial performances are so fresh in our minds, though we're guilty of it in other sports over longer periods of time (see: LeBron, Jordan, Kobe). Gomez is on fire for a Bayern side that can't be stopped right now, though if we wait long enough we'll have our on-the-pitch comparison that will either settle the argument or raise even more questions. [Fox Sports]