Who is the best player, Messi or C.Ronaldo?

So like everyone else , I will like to throw my own two cents in the never ending debate. And it’s going to be long so bear with me. So let’s start:

Edit- All the stats mentioned are from messivsronaldo.app ( so blame them if anything is wrong)

Goalscoring — With each of them having 750+ goals with a ratio above 0.7, it’s safe the say that both of them have amazing goalscoring ability. But let’s breakdown it a little bit more

Outside the box — While Ronaldo have more power and it’s messi who has scored more outside the box goals, the Argentine with his precision and timing is better at scoring bangers than Ronnie

Weak foot — Ronaldo takes this one , he has shown that he is deadly with both feet. There might be the phrase that when messi shifts left you’re done , but when Ronaldo shoots it doesn’t matter the foot you’re done. Both are great with their dominant foot no doubt, but weak foot goes to Ronaldo.

Headers — No explanations needed , CR7 is greatest header of football.

So this proves Ronaldo is more versatile goalscorer than Messi. But still props to Leo that even world knowing his style he still is destroying defences here and there . But Ronaldo is a more dangerous goalscorer.

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Dribbling — You have to be a messi hater for believing Ronaldo is better dribbler than Messi . With all due respect Ronnie in his early United days was a great dribbler and even now is good but messi has always be one of the greatest if not the greatest dribblers of the game. Messi takes this one

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Playmaking — Now Leo is a superior playmaker but Ronaldo really unappreciated as a playmaker. Let’s look at a broader perspective

Passing — Leo is the better passer for sure he is able to provide passes that make him look like Ozil or Xavi. That doesn’t mean Ronaldo is a bad passer by any means he has a pass rate about 81% this season which is fucking good while just shy of Leo who has 86% this season. But when it comes to key passes the story is different Leo has 1249 key passes with an average of 2.43 per 90 in his career compared to Cristiano’s 877 to 1.69 per 90 which still are great no’s. When it comes to crossing Ronaldo is better playing as winger with his strength he is almost natural crosser while messi has to improve his crossing which was why he didn’t take corners in his early days

Chances and Through balls- No debate messi provides more chances, big chances and gives more through balls . If we look at the stats messi has created 368 big chance compared to Ronaldo’s 174 and provided 398 through balls while Ronnie has provided only 81. Heck even his xA is also far superior with him having xA of 111.45 to Ronaldo’s 50.93 which is still good

Vision — Messi takes this one two , Leo finds such spaces , players and chances that make most midfielders envy.

So this proves messi is easily one the greatest playmakers of the games but seriously people should undermining Ronaldo he is definitely not a KDB but he is easily one of the best playmakers when compared to other strikers and wingers.

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Free kicks — Free kicks is debatable Ronald was an amazing free kick taker before his knee injury in 2014 , he absolutely took some out of the world free kicks, while messi has to improve his. Not only he surpassed Ronaldo’s tally but currently is the best free kick taker in the world. But I will have to give this messi since he is still scoring those free kicks while it is difficult to think Ronaldo will get back his free kicking ability.

Penalties — Many people think penalties should not be counted since they go in most of the times but a goal is goal and it’s the opponent’s fault. While messi is great penalty taker with scoring over 100 penalties with a success rate above 75%. But Ronaldo is the most ruthless penalty taker ever with scoring near 150 penalties with success rate around 85% he takes this.

Defensive stats- Now these are not the stats you talk about comparing forwards but it’s messi and ronaldo and for them everything counts. Without no’s it is really difficult to judge them on their defensive capabilities. So, we will judge them by pure stats

Tackles — Messi takes this one with making 0.65 tackles per 90 to Ronaldo’s 0.38

Interceptions-Messi edges out in this too , but just barely as he makes 0.38 p90 to CR7’s 0.31

Clearances-Ronaldo dominates this with 0.61 clearances p90 to messi’s only 0.01(wow)

Shots blocked — Both have very low no’s in this but Ronaldo is the clear winner as he blockes 3x shots compared to Leo by blocking 0.07 to 0.02 p90 respectively.

Passes blocked-Messi comes out of top here as he blocks 0.36 passes to 0.24 p90 of CR7

Crosses blocked- Ronaldo takes this one while stats are low enough to not be noticeable as Ronaldo has blocked just 11 crosses while messi has only blocked 1 in his entire life.

Pressing — Surprisingly it’s messi who comes out on top here making 10 pressures p90 to ronnie’s 8.

Like I said before there is not much to judge here messi is better at tackles, interceptions, blocking passes and pressing while Ronaldo is superior when it comes clearances, shots and crosses blocked. So it’s tie( did so don’t have to face fanboys screaming why not defensive stats, pressing blah blah)

Prime- Both have more than one primes it’s going to be difficult. For CR7 it’s between his amazing period in 2007–2009 United where he was amazing goalscorer,dribbler free kick taker etc or his more widely regarded 2014–2018 where he made UCL, The UEFA Cristiano League. As for Leo it is between his time under pep where he was banging goals and assists like it was school football or 2015–2019 where he became the most complete player by scoring and creating at the same time. For simplicity sake I will have 2009–12 messi against 2014–18 Ronaldo as wider range of people consider these periods to be there primes. Messi in that time won a sextuple, 2 UCL’S , 4 ballon d’or’s,3 golden shoes and had that unbelievable 91 goals year. While 2014–18 Ronaldo won 4 our of 5 UCL ,3 ballon d’or’s and 2 golden shoes and had 3 best UCL seasons ever, damn what freaks but for me messi is a little better bcz not only he was scoring outrageous no of goals but was also bagging amazing assists and even without them was a trouble to every defence, remember el Clasico 2010. So For me messi had a better prime because he was more complete.

Other Aspects — As football is a sport beyond just stats, they are some other factors like mentality, leadership, consistency etc that defines greatness of a player.

Mentality — This goes to CR7 , he is truly the toughest character of football, the amount of comebacks, masterclasses he has pulled in knockouts and pressure situation is remarkable. The mentality to never give up unless it’s over is truly reminiscent with Ronaldo. Leo also has great mental fortitude and delivered some iconic in pressure performance and the way he came back to the national team after loss after loss in finals is truly remarkable, but when compared to CR7 he tails a bit behind.

Understanding of the game — It’s safe messi is one of greatest natural readers of the game. The way he understands and impact a game even at times without scoring or assisting is beyond ability of any forward. Whereas Ronaldo while being an astute reader of the game as shown by positioning and final impact in the box pales in comparison to messi.

Clutch — Clutch, a term most familiar with CR7 , it it’s not hard to say Ronaldo is more clutch , the amount of match- winning, tie-in goals he has scored are probably at the very top in history. Messi is also clutch to a certain level but not to Ronaldo’s that’s for sure.

Consistency — With a career over more than 15 years being at top , it’s safe to say both are very if not equally consinent. But I think messi edges just barely, Ronaldo as got older lost many of skills like his playmaking and dribbling ability of United and even his long range shooting is also declining now. But messi has contained his most if not all skills from his younger days to certain level. He is still an amazing goalscorer and playmaker although his finishing is truly started to decline.

Adaptability — Ronnie is more adaptable period , the way he adapted from United to Real and then from Real to Juve is just phenomenal and we have seen messi having problems to adapt in PSG as he has been playing in certain system from his youth .

Leadership — For me this is tie, while Ronaldo has never captained a club site for a season or more , but he has been a great leader of Portugal leading them to Euros 2016 and has seriously increased the level of the game in team. While Leo streak with barca was not as successful as of his predecessor like Puyol or Xavi but you could argue he never got a team of their level too. His time with Argentina truly defines his leadership skills, leading the team to world cup final and Copa after so many loses truly shows he is an remarkable leader.

Conclusion- When it comes to key things outside the attributes of the sport, it’s not hard to say Ronaldo, guy is both an mental and physical beast , a great leader, and is better at being adaptable and in pressure situation compared to Leo who while is better at technical understanding of the game.

Trophies — Messi has more trophies but Ronaldo’s has more UCL’S. Messi has more league titles but Ronaldo’s titles are more versatile. Both have their continental cup, so the only way to decide who has a better trophy cabinet is by world cup which both of them doesn’t have . So it’s tie (Edit: — Well looks like things have changed Leo Messi has won the World Cup. So now it’s safe to say he has a better trophy cabinet).

Individual awards- Now here the comes the heyday, major individuals awards messi has more ballon d’or’s, golden boots , and playmaker awards . While Ronaldo have more fifa the best(I’m not counting the time it was given with ballon d’or) and UEFA the best . Ronnie has 1 more champions league top scorer award while Leo has 3 more league top scorer awards. Leo has also won 2 world cup golden ball, and golden boy. So it is pretty safe to say messi has more major individual awards.

Conclusion — The stats prove that while both of them are one of the greatest to ever grace the field , messi edges out CR7 , they are comparable as goalscorers , but messi is a superior playmaker and dribbler. While Ronaldo is better at penalties messi is a better free kick taker. Ronaldo has better mentality of a ideal sportsman, is more of clutch but Leo more consistent and natural. Arguably had better prime and more individual awards.

At end you may agree with me or not but it’s a fact the both Messi and Ronaldo are two of the greatest to ever play the game. Without their rivalry football would never be this enjoyable as it is ,bcz for more than a decade it was always ronaldo vs messi , nobody came close and I highly doubt anyone ever will come close to these monsters .Both have given us amazing moments. Be it Ronaldo and his amazing goals, skills , his machine like consistency, his European dominance and single handedly match winning clutch moments or the SUUII whch is the greatest celebration ever. Or Magical Messi with his dribbles and plays that out of this word and made him feel alien. CR7 showed with dedication and hard work you can do anything, his mentality is still unmatchable. While messi showed if you are good enough you can overcome any obstacle. Debate all you want, prefer anyone you like but at the end we should respect both because in some time they will retire leaving us with just memories. Enjoy while it lasts. Because when it ends we will realise how lucky we were to have both of them in just one generation. Thank you Leo Messi and CR7 for the best decade in footballing history.

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