Messi and Ronaldo — who is the best footballer?
Two best football players in the world couldn’t answer the question “Who is better?” for a long time. There is probably no right answer due to the significant differences between the two of them. But we would try to take a closer look at the matter and provide you with a comparative article, where we would observe the main successes of Ronaldo and Messi.
Ronaldo and Messi — what led to their confrontation?
There has not been an actual recorded conflict between Messi and Ronaldo. Even though they probably do not have the best feelings for each other, they have never done anything in public to prove that. But if you observe the football careers of the Portuguese and Argentinian, you will find some rivalry.
In our article, we should try to compare Messi and Ronaldo through some specific features, like:
- Number of club trophies.
- Number of significant trophies with there respective national teams.
- Number of individual trophies.
- Total number of scored goals.
- Transfer cost.
- Popularity.
- Income.
- Opinions of fellow football players.
Club trophies: Messi vs Ronaldo = 32 vs 24
Here, Messi has a significant advantage over Ronaldo, and although more than a third of his awards are Spanish and UEFA Super Cups, the Argentine is, in any case, out of the competition. Messi has 8 wins in the national championships, while Ronaldo won only five times. Messi has 4 wins in the Champions League, same with Ronaldo, but the latter achieved this with two different clubs. Anyway, one point in favor of Lionel Messi.
Significant trophies with the national team: Messi vs Ronaldo = 0 vs 1
Messi had a victory in the World Youth Championships and at the Olympic Games, but with the adult team of Argentina, he won nothing. He, however reached the finals four times: three times at America's Cup and once at the World Championships. Ronaldo got a full collection of awards from the European championships and received a gold at the end of the Euro-2016. Ronaldo in an elite club of players who took the "Golden Ball", won the Champions League and a major tournament with the national team. Messi isn’t there yet.
Individual trophies ("Golden Ball" and "Golden Boot"): Messi vs Ronaldo = 8 vs 8
Messi and Ronaldo won a bunch of individual awards. Now they are equal because Ronaldo has won the fourth "Golden Ball" in his collection this year.
Goals scored (club + international career): Messi vs Ronaldo = 670 vs 684
Messi has a higher goal score rate — 0.78 goals per game against 0.67 for Ronaldo. In the same time period, during the international European cups, the Portuguese scored more than the Argentinean: 99 goals against 97. Both of these players have 4 Golden boot trophies, but Messo has an advantage in the amount of Pichichi Trophies — 4 vs 3. You can see that the statistic of both footballers is very close.
Transfer cost (according to Transfermarkt): Messi vs Ronaldo = 120 million euros vs 100 million euros
Some time ago, Ronaldo was able to go over the mark of 120 million euros, and Messi never moved much higher, but, like in all of the previous paragraphs, we use the principle of "here and now." In theory, Barcelona will agree to sell the Argentine for a larger hypothetical amount than in Ronaldo's case. The difference in age may even play a role. But these numbers are not verified since they are not based not on an actual cost, but on some significant characteristics of the players.
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Popularity: Messi vs Ronaldo (number of Facebook and Instagram subscribers) = 172.5 million subscribers vs 237 million subscribers
It's about the one whose popularity has gone beyond football, and the number of followers on Facebook and Instagram reflects how far this process went. Obviously, Ronaldo is more famous and this may be due to how well his image is managed on social media.
Financial component: Messi vs Ronaldo (total earnings for the last three years): 217.5 million dollars vs 234 million dollars
In recent years, Ronaldo steadily bypasses Messi on the list of the most highly paid players. Again, we can say that Ronaldo is just paying more attention to advertising. Among other things, the Portuguese either regularly pays taxes while Lionel was recently sentenced to 21 months on probation, which was a blow to both his wallet and the reputation. If you take a look at these two points, they have an indirect relationship to football. You can conclude that the brand "Cristiano Ronaldo" is more expensive than the brand "Lionel Messi".
Opinions of fellow football players: Messi vs Ronaldo (players who spoke about both Ronaldo and Messi)
Exactly half of the ten players who spoke with both Messi and Ronaldo called the Argentine player the best footballer on the planet. Someone refrained from making comments such as Gonzalo Higuain, Andre Gomes, and Angel Di Maria. However, Deco said that Ronaldinho was better than both of these players. But Garay, Tevez, Larsson, Piquet, and Gago favoured Lionel. Also, such whales as Sir Alex and Mourinho pointed at Ronaldo. All in all, Messi had more support. Some people described Messi as an alien while Ronaldo was only the best among humans.
As you can see, there is a 5:5 draw in our challenge between Messi and Ronaldo. And maybe it’s fair enough because both of these football players just can’t beat each other completely in all areas. Also, we have to admit that the careers of Messi and Ronaldo are not finished yet, so the last point in their rivalry is still to be drawn.
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Source: Naija.ng