The two best footballers in the modern game, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continue to break record after record - the latest of which occurred on Tuesday night when the latter struck for Real Madrid against Juventus.
Indeed, Ronaldo’s opener against the Italian champions saw him become the first player in history to score in 10 Champions League matches in a row. One day later, Messi was presented with a commemorative framed image to celebrate his 100th Champions League goal, which arrived against Chelsea in the round of 16.
Messi, carrying a hamstring issue, was actually subdued in Barcelona’s 4-1 win over Roma at Camp Nou on Wednesday night, but the same cannot be said for Ronaldo, who produced one of the greatest goals in the history of European football when his overhead kick against Juventus flew into the back of the net.
Social media was rife with praise for the Portuguese, but there were also many who simply took the chance to criticise the Real Madrid attacker by claiming that Messi was still the greatest player in the history of the sport.
There is an argument to be made when it comes to recognising Messi as the best player to ever grace the game, but if that is the case then Ronaldo is surely the greatest goalscorer to ever walk the Earth.
Not since 2007 has a player other than Messi or Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or. The magnificently gifted Kaka claimed first position in that particular year, with Ronaldo in second having starred for Manchester United. Since then, Ronaldo has won it five times – including in each of the last two years - while Messi also has five to his name.
The records that have been broken by the pair are simply staggering, and there is no question that many would still be standing but for the two players driving each other forward. The simple fact of the matter is that Messi and Ronaldo need one another, and they both know it.
Much has been made of the rivalry between the two men, but that is not really the case. Their sporting rivalry is, of course, intense, but there is a genuine respect between two individuals who can appreciate what the other has achieved. There are plenty of incredible footballers operating in the modern game, but Ronaldo and Messi still sit a million miles ahead of them.
Juventus fans 👏
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How everyone reacted to Cristiano's overhead kick last night...
Messi is the only player in history to score 40+ goals in eight consecutive seasons, and holds the record for the most official goals in a calendar year, having scored 91 times in 2012. He is also the only footballer to score 60+ goals in all competitions in two consecutive seasons - between 2011 and 2013.
No player reached 100 Champions League goals faster than Messi, and indeed the Argentine’s total of 375 league goals is the most for a single club in Europe’s top five leagues. The list of records that Messi currently holds is mind-boggling, and in any other era he would be comfortably at the summit of the sport.
Ronaldo, however, also has a few records of his own. Indeed, he is the only player in history to have scored 60 or more goals in a calendar year four times, which occurred between 2011 and 2014. The former Sporting Lisbon youngster is also the only player to have scored 15+ goals in the Champions League in a calendar year, and he has done that on three separate occasions.
Between 2012 and 2017, Ronaldo finished as the Champions League top scorer in five successive seasons, and he has the most league goals in history across Europe’s top five leagues with 391. Ronaldo was also the first player to reach 100 goals in the Champions League, and is actually 19 ahead of Messi in European competition. The list goes on and on.
They are freak numbers from two players who were put on this planet to play football. There were suggestions that Ronaldo was on the decline earlier this season, but the forward, now 33 years of age, has silenced his critics once again. Messi will turn 31 during this summer’s World Cup, and time will inevitably catch up with both of them, but shows little sign of doing so anytime soon.
The rule of thumb had been that a forward scoring one goal every two matches was an impressive record, but those days have long gone. Plenty have been compared to Ronaldo and Messi in the past, but there is not a footballer in the current game that comes anywhere near.
It would be fitting if the pair went head-to-head at the World Cup this summer, but the sad thing is that a win for either would lead to more jibes that the other player was not quite as good. There is also every chance that they will lock horns in the latter stages of this season’s Champions League, which would bring the same outcome for the individual on the losing team.
There will always be comparisons between the two men, and everyone will have their favourite. Some English fans might subconsciously place Messi ahead of Ronaldo due to their partisan views on Manchester United, or the Portugal international’s perceived selfishness on the field.
Ronaldo has performed and succeeded in two of the biggest leagues in Europe while all of Messi’s goals at club level have come in Spain. The age-old question of whether Messi could do it on a cold and rainy night at Stoke City is more for humour, however, than a genuine query.
Messi is a phenomenon, a genius, a player that brings joy to millions of people around the world, but the exact same thing can be said for Ronaldo. Both have had to overcome their own personal struggles to reach the absolute pinnacle of the sport, and the fact they are around in this era is a blessing to us all.
Messi is more the magician, dazzling with his wizardry on the pitch; Ronaldo, meanwhile, the physical force. The former is perhaps the bigger natural talent, with Ronaldo honing his strength and power by training for hours in both the gym and on the training field to drive him to the top level. Drawing parallels between the two is difficult when considering that they play and see the game so differently.
Messi vs. Ronaldo, just who is the G.O.A.T? The answer should be that it simply does not matter. Let us all just enjoy their brilliance on a weekly basis because one thing is for certain, it will not be around forever.
