Nowhere there is stated that they are comparable in strength.
"Along with" means grouping, not equality, and "compared to" only means that you are comparing them, not what you are comparing nor the result of said comparison.
"Julia was the best writer in the company along with Matt; compared to him, her forte was creative writing". Julia and Matt are never said to be equally good nor their skills are compared for a judgement of equality.
Some people just won't properly understand English (or whatever language, I doubt it's only about this one).