Earliest memory watching Maradona was Italia ‘90, a tournament that he played with an injury (believe it was his ankle for which he got injections). Made only one real run of the note (the dribble vs Brazil to set up Caniggia). It was a 6 out of 10 tournament for him as he was clearly hindered.
Having watched Messi for over 10 years on a weekly basis, and having seen footage of Maradona in his prime (the 80s), Messi is the better dribbler. It’s close, as it’s the two greatest at this, but Messi’s ball control is unparalleled. Maradona would often use his body to shield the ball, whereas Messi would already be away from an opponent (often via a feint) so wouldn’t require to use his body to hold a player off. The biggest difference between the two is personality. Messi hasn’t got one, he can’t drive a team on through sheer will power unlike Maradona. While Messi has a great effect on his teammates just through his sheer presence, Maradona had an even greater effect as he had that presence in addition to being the player that drove everyone else on. Even if a game was going really badly (take Argentina’s 4-0 loss to Germany in the 2010 World Cup, or 4-1 loss to France in 2018), Maradona would do something, he’d kick someone, get in the referees face, he wouldn’t take defeat lying down, whereas Messi being so quiet/lacking in personality you would barely see any reaction.
Messi more naturally talented, but Maradona edges it overall through his presence/effect on the team.
