Paul Scholes has named the nine best Champions League players he faced including Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane

Paul Scholes mentioned Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo when naming the players that stood out from his playing days in the Champions League.

Scholes, who is widely regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation, lifted two Champions League titles during a trophy-laden 20-year career at Manchester United.

In total, he made 124 appearances in Europe's elite competition, according to Transfermarkt, and scored 24 goals for Sir Alex Ferguson's side, including that long range effort against Barcelona.in the 2008 Champions League semi-final.

Scholes came up against some of the greatest of all time in the 90's, 00's and early 2010's, but who stands out as the best?

Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet, the former England international was asked to pick the best five players he played against in the Champions League.

Instead, he opted for nine. "I played some incredible teams – that great Barcelona team, the Real Madrid team when it was the proper Galáctico’s... Juventus," he said.

"I’ll go for Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Seedorf... I’m trying to think of midfield players and that Real Madrid team was incredible – Redondo, Ronaldo, Figo, Zidane, and Raul."

Scholes added: “When we were trying to win Champions Leagues, those teams were ridiculous. It’s the same with England, the teams we had to come up against like France and Spain.”

Zinedine Zidane, who will certainly go down as one of the all-time greats, is a huge fan of Scholes. Once, after being asked what it feels like to be the best player in the world, Zidane nonchalantly replied: “I don’t know, ask Paul Scholes.”

In another interview, the Frenchman said: “There is no doubt for me that Paul Scholes is still in a class of his own. He’s almost untouchable in what he does. I never tire of watching him play.

“You rarely come across the complete footballer, but Scholes is as close to it as you can get. One of my regrets is that the opportunity to play alongside him never presented itself during my career.”

Image credit: Getty

Luis Figo, another one of Scholes' picks, once said he was "starstruck" after seeing Scholes in the flesh because, in his own words, "you never see him." Figo added: "On the pitch you can’t catch him. Off the pitch he disappears."