The hands of time can never be turned back which means two of the greatest footballers who ever graced the game’s great stadiums are reaching the end of their astonishing careers, but who is the greatest of al time: Messi v Ronaldo?
Messi v Ronaldo: Who is the Greatest of all Time?
For two decades and more Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the game, constantly being celebrated and consistently being compared. There can surely never be a definitive answer to the age-old question of which of these legends is the best, but before they finally hang up their boots for good, let’s revel once more in just what they have achieved.
Messi v Ronaldo: Rags to Riches
The great storyline, of course, is that during their youth days there were clear indications neither Messi nor Ronaldo would make it. Messi was making a name for himself with Newell’s Old Boys but was all but written off for being too small.
Ronaldo was a troublemaker as a youngster, turning his back on education from a young age and many questioned his attitude to make it to the very top. It seems astonishing that anyone would question the ability of two young men who would go on to dominate the game, yet maybe those setbacks helped give them the strength to succeed.
Messi v Ronaldo: Numbers Don’t Lie
It’s often said that you only ever measure a player or a team by the trophies they win, and in the case of Messi and Ronaldo they won a jaw-dropping amount. In a career spanning over 20 years at Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and Al Nassr, Ronaldo has won 31 club titles.
Messi can trump his great rival. Despite being two years younger, the Argentine star has won 39 club trophies, 34 of them at Barcelona before signing off in Europe with Paris Saint-Germain and then on to the United States to join Inter Miami. Almost more important, though, were the national titles which meant so much to the pair of them.
When Portugal won the European Championship in 2016 they weren’t the best team at the tournament, but Ronaldo, with his star quality and inspiration, dragged them over the line. Equally, Messi had to suffer any number of flops with Argentina before they were crowned world champions in 2022 the year after he won his first Copa America.
Messi v Ronaldo: Greatest of the Great
That ability to inspire others around them was clearly a gift, and they could each win games on their own. Both were versatile and able to play anywhere in and around the flat line and both were blessed with the eye for the killer pass or perfect shot.
They dribbled at pace with the ball seemingly glued to their feet, could leave opponents on their backsides on the turn and, of course, were utterly nerveless in the big moments.
Messi v Ronaldo: Record-Breakers
And the upshot is numbers that are off the scale. If one man didn’t win the Ballon D’Or the other did – (at the last count it was eight for Messi, five for Ronaldo). And then there’s the goals – and it’s these that are truly remarkable. Consider, for example, that in his last 13 seasons at Barcelona, Messi never scored less than 31 goals in a single campaign.
Meanwhile, over in Madrid, Ronaldo went six straight seasons registering at least 50 goals for Real and during this current campaign clocked his 900th career goal. He insists he won’t retire until he makes 1,000. Ronaldo declared the rivalry over and it probably was the day each man left Europe for lesser climes. But it’s a rivalry that has endured and thrilled in equal measure. As for the best – how could we possibly separate them?
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