Messi Ronaldo Rivalry

Karansinh Solanki

October 2, 2023
5 min read
ballan dor barcelona Cristiano ronaldo el clasico fc barcelona Lionel messi madrid messi real madrid ronaldo ucl

Debut and Initial Stages of an Era

Ronaldo

Ronaldo played for Clube Desportivo Nacional of Madeira before Sporting Lisbon. Soon he grabbed the attention of European Football and signed for Manchester United coached by coach Sir Alex Ferguson and became a sensation among the fans. He showed up as one of the best forwards at that time with a stunning season in 2007/08 scoring 32 league goals and earning a Golden Shoe as a Top goal scorer in Europe. After helping United to the Champions League Title in 2008 he was awarded FIFA Player of the Year for his terrific 2008 season.

Messi

The little magician in 1995 joined the youth team of Newell’s Old Boys. Impressed by his unmatchable skills, the President of Barcelona signed him for the U-14 team. Since then he shifted to Spain with his family and played the U-14 team for Barcelona. With his official debut for the Barcelona senior team in the 2003/04 season, he became the youngest official player to score a goal in Spanish La Liga. Messi improved his skillset and versatility as a striker and playmaker for Barcelona. He helped Barcelona to win his First Champions League Title in 2009 beating Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United and completing the Treble under coach Pep Guardiola. With rapid growth in 2008, he finished 2nd behind Cristiano Ronaldo for the Ballan D’or. And that’s where the real rivalry of the two of the greatest players in football history begins.

The Decade of Legends

At the beginning of the last decade, Ronaldo signed for Spanish Club Real Madrid for a record-breaking £80 million transfer fee. In season 2010/11 with his form he netted 40 goals and set a record for most goals in a season for La Liga, which was broken by his arc rival Messi in the following season. With 46 goals as his personal best in a single season, Ronaldo helped Madrid to win the League title of La Liga.

El Clasico

One of the hottest rivalries in any sport is the El Clasico. Two Spanish and European giants FC Barcelona and Real Madrid clash on at least 2 occasions a year and play hard and rough to beat each other. The cherry on the cake is the rivalry between Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are there to fire up this stage. With invincible teams on both sides, you hardly miss any moment of the match. As in El Clasico stats, Messi tops the chart with 26 goals followed by Cristiano Ronaldo with 18 goals. With this Messi also has more El Clasico wins than Ronaldo and the same goes for the assists. With such amazing stats, Messi also has more league titles than Ronaldo.

Champions League

If you are a true fan of football, you know the domination by Cristiano Ronaldo in the UEFA Champions League. He is the most decorated and successful player in the Champions League

With an immense record of most UCL titles, UCL goals, and scoring in 13 consecutive UEFA Champions League. No doubt anyone can come closer to these records without true passion and hard work. Messi is behind with 4 UCL Titles while Ronaldo has 5 UCL titles. Ronaldo won the last 3 titles in 3 consecutive seasons of UCL under Defender Captain Sergio Ramos. Such domination by these two teams is enough to say how Spanish football has dominated Europe in the last decade. As here, we can say Ronaldo is ahead of Messi in UCL campaigns.

Ballan D’or

A Ballan D’or is considered the most prestigious individual trophy in the football world. The award is given to the player who has the most thriving season including all the competitions around Europe. Well apart from this rivalry, Messi has the most, 7 Ballan d’Or followed by Cristiano Ronaldo with 5 Ballan d’Or. Many critics in football stated this award is a “Popularity Award” with reference to the voting system and an individual award in a “Team sport”.

Club and International Football

Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have some unmatchable records in their career with clubs and National teams. The passion of Cristiano leading the charts of goals tally compared to Messi and any other football player existed on this planet.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Teams	Appearance	Goals
Portugal	201	123
Manchester United	346	145
Real Madrid	438	450
Juventus	134	101
Al Nassr	27	23
Total	1177	847

Messi

Teams	Appearance	Goals
Argentina	176	104
FC Barcelona	800	678
PSG	75	32
Inter Miami	12	11
Total	1063	825

Who is best…?

These stats show the longevity and superiority of these two legends in football. There a very tight stats to define who is better but surely both of them. Even some experts said that after Messi won the FIFA World Cup 2022 almost settled the debate about who is best. Surely both have their own strength and ability to play dynamically in different positions and score more for their team. Ronaldo with great long-range shooting, physical strength, and heading and can shoot with high kicking power. Messi can dribble with great balance, ball control, possession, and vision to pass from the minor gaps between the opponents to create chances to score. It is a tedious job to settle this debate about who is better. Instead of that, enjoy a great decade to witness the two greatest personalities playing against each other and competing on every stage of the game.