Lionel Messi
and Cristiano Ronaldo are the two legend players of current era. Both of them rule
the game of football. If one is Ferrari the other is Porche. Both of them are
shining stars of the game. But there is a battle between the supporters of this
pair. There fan tries to sought out who is more energetic, skillful and overall
the best.
Both Messi and Ronaldo are the figureheads of
Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, and the comparison between the two is
far too often used as just another battleground to continue this most hateful
and historical of rivalries.
Over years
the players in question have adopted various ways of dealing with the constant
competition, renewed every year in La Liga and a variety of tournaments. Messi
has many times attempted to play down the rivalry on a personal level between
the two, recently heaping praise on the Los Merengues sharpshooter in an
interview with Time Magazine:
“I think
he's a good person. I think he's a good player, who brings a lot to Madrid, and
who, in any moment, can decide a game.
I don't
think [there is a rivalry]. I never really fixated on him or compared myself
with another player. My mentality is just to achieve more each year, to grow
both as an individual and as a team, and if he wasn't there, I'd be doing the
same thing.”
Ronaldo, on
the other hand—perhaps inevitably given his more bombastic media presence in
comparison with the more retiring Messi—has raised the subject of who is the
more complete footballer on certain occasions. Talking to CNN in 2012, the
Madrid man may have only been half joking when he gave his answer to the
question: who is the best?
“At the
moment ... I think it is me (laughs).
You cannot
compare a Ferrari with a Porsche because it's a different engine. You cannot
compare them. He does the best things for Barcelona, I do the best things for
Madrid.
I think we
push each other sometimes in the competition; this is why the competition is so
high. This is why Madrid and Barcelona are the best teams in the world because
everyone pushes each other, not just me and Messi but other players.”
But who
truly deserves to be recognised as the most talented player on the planet?
Looking over every aspect of each star's game, the truth is, at times it is
almost too close to call.
Goalscoring
Ability
Since the
appearance of Messi and Ronaldo on the scene, La Liga's Pichichi trophy for top
scorer has only been about two players. Perhaps driven on, as Ronaldo alludes
to, by the need to make both themselves and their team evermore formidable, the
two stars have taken hitting the back of the net to new, almost unimaginable
levels.
The numbers
barely separate them. Messi has netted 315 goals in 381 games for Barcelona,
since making his debut back in the 2004/05 season. Ronaldo averages a perfect
one per game in Merengue ranks, with 201 in 201.
This would
appear to give the Portuguese a slight edge, but take into account that Messi's
total includes the first four seasons of his professional career, when even as
a precocious teenager he was still learning his trade.
This was a
phase also experienced by his rival, who was in his sixth year as a
professional when first recording a goal every two games in league
football.
Ronaldo is
the consummate poacher in front of goal and strong enough to make him a
fearsome prospect for any defence. Messi's ability to score from across the
pitch, however, and coolness in defining shots, means that he comes out as the
best goalscorer in this analysis.
Physical
attributes
Ronaldo
began life in football as a lanky teenager often thrown off the ball, but he
began an incredible metamorphosis in his time at Manchester United. At
6'1" and with an imposing presence, he blends pace and power to mark
himself as one of the most perfect physical specimens in world football.