Messi vs Ronaldo – who is the best?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two of the best football players of all time, arguably the best of them all. But remarkably, their careers have largely overlapped, with both players dominating the game for more than a decade now. But who is the best?
We compare the two in many different ways and let you decide the overall winner.
Messi vs Ronaldo –
read biography and net worth of lionels mesi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Who is the top scorer?
The competition was fueled by their unprecedented goalscoring streak, with Messi and Ronaldo scoring more than one goal per game at their peak. In the 9 years Ronaldo was at Real Madrid, both Messi and Ronaldo scored one goal in 85 minutes in all competitions. Their side of purpose – targeting each other for the kill – has been rocking for years.
Throughout their careers, it was Messi who scored the most goals, with 0.79 goals per game, while Ronaldo scored 0.72 goals per game. If we look at goals per minute, Messi scores one goal every 104 minutes and Ronaldo scores one goal every 13 minutes.
Ronaldo still has more career goals than Messi (Ronaldo has 818 career goals and Messi has 785 career goals), but Ronaldo has played 145 more games in his career than Messi.
While Messi overshadows the overall score, Ronaldo spent most of his years as a right-footed midfielder, starting to really focus on goals as the main goal. his work in 2006, 3-4 years after he started his work. For Messi, it took 2-3 years to complete his transformation from a nippy winger to a goal-hungry player above all else. If we take into account these different origins, the ratio will be close.
Of all the categories, purpose is the most difficult to categorize.
This is a TIE.
Who provides more assists?
When it comes to giving, there is only one winner. Lionel Messi’s athleticism is among the best, and he has the numbers to prove it. Messi has 346 assists in 994 games, compared to Ronaldo’s 234 assists in 1,139 games.
However, as Messi has a clear advantage when it comes to assists, this often leads people to fall into the trap of underestimating Ronaldo’s skills in this area. Ronaldo’s assist numbers are still impressive compared to other human beings who play the beautiful game.
Of course, Ronaldo has more in the Champions League, with 42 assists to Messi’s 40 – considering Ronaldo has played 26 more games than Messi, but that’s still a huge number. That said, you can’t ignore Messi’s assist numbers – he takes this form very well.
WINNER : MESSI
Messi vs Ronaldo – Who is the best passer?
The passing rate shows the clear winner in this category; Lionel Messi. But again, Ronaldo’s passing ability is underestimated. In the League and Champions League since 2009/10, Messi has made 1,324 key passes in 577 games, while Ronaldo has made 890 key passes in 560 games.
Messi also tops the scoring charts, with 429 successful balls in the same season, compared to Ronaldo’s 81 successful balls. Although Messi’s passing numbers are better, Ronaldo’s are still interesting. His passing stats likely would have been higher prior to 2009 when he was involved in a producer game.
WINNER : MESSI
Who is the best dribbler?
Ronaldo started his career as a tricky striker, because his game is all about running and beating the defenders with his skill. As he progressed into a striker/action role over the years, dribbling literally became less and less important to Ronaldo’s performance. Messi also began his football career centered on the line, eventually switching to a central role for the majority of his career.
However, Messi plays a very different game to the traditional forward, and his natural No.10 makes it a perfect 9. As a result, Messi comes forward more, in the game, instead of running and playing on the shoulders of his defenders.
Because he often comes deep to receive the ball, dribbling remains an important part of Messi’s game, completing an incredible 3,015 dribbles in the League and the Champions League, compared to Ronaldo’s 1,646 successful dribbles (since 2003/04). So, there is no doubt that Lionel Messi is the best when it comes to dribbling.
WINNER : MESSI
Messi vs Ronaldo – Who’s the better at heading?
Heading is undoubtedly the obvious category, and Ronaldo’s head count completely eclipses Messi’s.
Throughout their careers, Ronaldo has scored 141 goals in 1139 games while Messi has scored just 26 goals in 994 games. With the header, Ronaldo has won 737 aerial duels in the League and Champions League since 2009/10, compared to Messi’s 114 aerial duels.
In fact, when you look at their build, the way they play, the way their team plays, those numbers are not surprising.
WINNER : RONALDO
Who’s the best at shooting?
Stats show that Ronaldo is more prolific in goals than Messi, scoring 3,444 shots in one game in the Champions League since 2009/10, compared to Messi’s 2,841.
However, Messi converts a higher percentage of his shots, scoring every 5.21 goals he scores, while Ronaldo scores every 6.43.
Leo Messi also gets more of his shots on target, with 47.66% of his attempts on target compared to Ronaldo’s 41.14%.
However, despite Messi’s best performances, the amount of effort Cristiano Ronaldo can produce is amazing and an important skill in itself. He also has an advantage in terms of shooting from a distance, and his legs and head are weak, so that’s enough to call this a belt.
WINNER : TIE
Messi vs Ronaldo -Who is the best at free kicks?
In recent years, Messi has become a professional footballer, while Ronaldo’s skills in this area have greatly diminished. However, to say that this category is being broken is an understatement.
For example, it may be true that from 2017 to 2019, Messi scored 23 free kick goals compared to Ronaldo’s 5; However, from 2009 to 2011 Ronaldo scored 21 free kick goals compared to Messi’s 3.
In terms of career statistics, Messi has scored 60 free kick goals compared to Ronaldo’s 58 free kick goals.
A few years ago, this category looked like a lock for Cristiano Ronaldo, but Leo Messi’s incredible transformation in recent years means that he catches Ronaldo and also has the best number of free-kick conversions, so he was content to change this.
WINNER : MESSI
Who scores more hat tricks?
Messi and Ronaldo’s hat-trick streak is hard to believe, with a staggering 116 between them; 56 career caps for Messi and 60 career caps for Ronaldo.
Ronaldo may still lead overall, but Messi has a slight advantage over and over again. Messi has 17.8 goals per game, while Ronaldo has 19.0 goals per game.
Those numbers are very strong, and in addition to that, the number of hat-tricks they have in the competition is: 36 caps for Messi and 39 caps for Ronaldo. In the Champions League? 8 caps for Messi and 8 caps for Ronaldo. This is a real tie.
WINNER : TIE