Whenever Barcelona has played against Real Madrid in professional soccer matches, the biggest subplot has usually been the battle between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They are two of the highest paid soccer players in the world. Ronaldo was signed by Real Madrid for $131 million in 2009 and earns nearly $50 million a year, as of April 2018. Prior to that, he had been signed by Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon as an 18-year-old.

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Messi has Ronaldo beat—slightly—in the salary department. In 2017, Barcelona signed the soccer star to a multiyear contract with a whopping $835 million buyout clause, according to 'Forbes.' He received a signing bonus of $59 million and makes $50 million a year in salary and bonus money.

Each player has won the World Player of the Year award and has scored in a Champions League final. Ronaldo says comparing Messi to him is like comparing a 'Ferrari with a Porsche' (though he says he's better). Their style of play and statistics provide hints about their similarities and differences.

Feet vs. Head

Soccer players can score with their head or feet, and Messi and Ronaldo have distinct differences in this area.

While Ronaldo make it almost par with Messi, talking about goals, his playing style and key strengths are almost completely inverse. Ronaldo relies on strength, speed, heading and timing. Whereas Messi is more of a gifted natural footballer, Ronaldo is seen a hard working “power house”.

Messi is left-footed and finishes most of his scoring chances on that side. He generally occupied the position on the right side of attack after Josep Guardiola took over as Barcelona coach in 2008 but has featured more centrally as time has gone on. (Barcelona's coach as of April 2018 is Ernesto Valverde.) Messi is outstanding in one-on-ones, capable of the subtle dink over an advancing goalkeeper, a curled effort into the corner, or a piledriver. So many chances come his way, on a team that dominates most games, that he will miss a few, but it is hard to find fault in Messi’s finishing.

Where Messi generally favors finesse when facing the whites of the goalposts, Ronaldo more often opts for sheer power. Unlike Messi, the Portuguese star is right footed but is also adept at finishing on his weaker side. Ronaldo's goals record speaks for itself, but in terms of foot power, Messi has a slight edge.

Ronaldo scores far more goals with his head than Messi, and he is not afraid to go in where it hurts. Standing 6 feet tall, Ronaldo is always going to be more effective in the air than Messi, who is a more diminutive 5-feet-4-inches tall. Ronaldo manages to apply great power to his headers and scores higher in this category. Sims 4 mods toddlers hair.

Free Kicks

Messi is capable of producing exquisite set pieces that bend past opposing goalkeepers. His free kicks are more about finesse than brute force. However, he lacks the variation of Ronaldo. Ronaldo’s swerving free kicks, by contrast, are a thing of beauty. When playing for Manchester United, he revealed that he uses the technique of striking the ball on the valve to get more power and movement. He is also capable of the classic curling free kick. He has the slight edge here.

Dribbling and Control

Messi is a great dribbler, and there is no one better in the world at taking on and beating players. Messi's strength is not just his pacing that takes him past defenders but his technique, quick feet, and balance. He is not the strongest or quickest player but relies on his natural ability to take him past his defenders.

Few players can perform a stepover like Ronaldo, and it is such skill that helps him beat opponents repeatedly. Ronaldo's control is generally excellent, but he relies more on his pace to take him past players than his Argentinean counterpart. Messi has a slight edge in this area.

Skill and Technique

Such is Messi’s skill that the ball can appear glued to his feet as he maneuvers himself out of tight situations and finds teammates when it seems he is surrounded. Messi, like Ronaldo, can use the backheel to great effect and also has a penchant for looping the ball over a defender and collecting it on the other side.

Ronaldo is more of a showman than Messi and can take the breath away with his array of stepovers and flicks. But in some matches, when the stepovers are taking him nowhere and he is attempting backheels that are not finding teammates, Ronaldo sometimes opts for style over substance. He is blessed with tremendous natural ability and when on point, he is a joy to watch, but he has more ineffectual matches than Messi.

Other Factors

One of the reasons Messi has been more successful at the club level is that he dovetails so beautifully with his Barcelona teammates, who generally say he works hard and combines well with other squad members.

Ronaldo is a player almost beyond reproach but one of the gripes that some teammates have had about him—and certainly some Real Madrid fans—is that he can be selfish and too obsessed with making the difference on his own. Ronaldo has been known to shoot from poor angles and distances when teammates are better placed, and he will often try to score when there is a superior option to his left or right. He also has a tendency to show his frustration and petulance toward teammates. Messi takes the edge here also.

Conclusion

Messi is not a big man and can be knocked off the ball by more imposing opponents. However, he is also capable of holding his own in one-on-ones and often it takes a foul for a defender to knock him off the ball. Ronaldo, by contrast, is more physically imposing with unquestionable fitness and professionalism in looking after himself.

Messi exerts more influence over more games, while Ronaldo has been accused of being a bit of a bully in the past—and effective in the lesser matches but disappointing when it really matters. Messi has produced more great performances in the biggest games, but Ronaldo has scored slightly more goals during his professional soccer career—394 vs. 386, as of April 2018. That might be the best litmus test of overall effectiveness, through the difference is so slight, it may be impossible to say which player is truly better.

The Ronaldo–Messi rivalry is a football rivalry between fans of Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentinian forward Lionel Messi and supposedly between the athletes themselves. Having won a combined ten Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Or awards (5 each), both are widely regarded not only as the two best players of their generation, but also, by many in the sport, including players, writers and fans, as the greatest of all time. They are two of the most decorated football players ever, having won a combined 63 trophies (Ronaldo 29, Messi 34) during their careers thus far, and have regularly broken the 50 goal barrier in a single season. They are amongst the 28 players in the history of the sport to score over 500 career goals, currently ranked at 6th (Ronaldo) and 7th (Messi) respectively, with both having scored over 690 goals each in their careers for club and country.^[1][2] Sports journalists and pundits regularly argue the individual merits of both players in an attempt to establish who they believe is the best player in modern football.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} It has been compared to past global sports rivalries such as the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing, the Roger Federer–Rafael Nadal rivalry and the Björn Borg–John McEnroe rivalry in tennis, and the Ayrton Senna–Alain Prost rivalry in Formula One motor racing.^[8][9][10]

Some commentators choose to analyse the differing physiques and playing styles of the two,^[11] while part of the debate revolves around the contrasting personalities of the two players: Ronaldo is sometimes described as someone of temperamental character while Messi is portrayed as having a more reserved character.^{[12][13][14][15]}

At club level, Messi and Ronaldo have represented rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. The two players faced each other at least twice every season in the world's most popular regular-season club game, El Clásico (among the most viewed annual sporting events), from Ronaldo's arrival at Real in 2009 until his transfer to Italian club Juventus F.C. in 2018.^[16][17] Off the field, they are also the face of two rival sportswear manufacturers, Messi of Adidas and Ronaldo of Nike, which are also the kit suppliers of their national teams and the opposite for their clubs.^[18][19][20] The two highest paid players in football, Messi and Ronaldo are among the world's best paid sports' stars in combined income from salaries, bonuses and off-field earnings. In 2018, Messi edged Ronaldo on Forbes' list of best-paid athletes, earning $111 million, with Ronaldo next at $108 million.^[21] They have the two largest social media followings in the world among sportspeople with a combined 211 million Facebook fans in 2019, Ronaldo having 122 million and Messi 89 million. As well as a combined 288 million followers on Instagram as of 2019, Ronaldo is the most followed individual on the entire service, with over 168 million followers whilst Messi has 120 million followers.^[22]

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History[edit]

In 2007, Ronaldo and Messi finished as runners-up to A.C. Milan's Kaká in both the Ballon d'Or, an award rewarded to the player voted as the best in the world by an international panel of sports journalists; and the FIFA World Player of the Year, an award voted for by coaches and captains of international teams. In an interview that year, Messi was quoted as saying 'Cristiano Ronaldo is an extraordinary player and it would be brilliant to be in the same team as him'.^[23][24]

They first played in a game together when Manchester United were drawn to play Barcelona in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League semi-finals and were immediately pitted as major rivals.^[25][26][27] Ronaldo missed a penalty in the first leg,^[28] but United eventually advanced to the final via a Paul Scholes goal.^[29] At the end of the year, Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d'Or and vowed that he would win the award again.^[30][31]

The 2009 UEFA Champions League Final was contested between Manchester United and Barcelona on 27 May 2009 at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. The match, described as a 'dream clash',^[32] was again hyped as the latest battle between the two, this time to settle who was the best player in the world;^[33][34] Ronaldo claimed he was the better of the two^[35] while Messi's club-mate Xavi sided with him.^[36] United manager Alex Ferguson was more diplomatic, praising both players as being amongst the world's elite talents.^[37][38] Messi, playing in a central role he was unaccustomed to so he would avoid a direct battle with United left-back Patrice Evra,^[39] scored Barcelona's second in a 2–0 victory with a header in the 70th minute.^[40] Meanwhile, Ronaldo was subdued for much of the game despite some early chances to score and his frustration eventually showed when he was booked for a rash tackle on Carles Puyol.^[41][42]

Relationship between Ronaldo and Messi[edit]

In a 2015 interview, Ronaldo commented on the rivalry by saying that 'I think we push each other sometimes in the competition, this is why the competition is so high'^[43] while Ronaldo's manager during his time at Manchester United Alex Ferguson opined that 'I don't think the rivalry against each other bothers them. I think they have their own personal pride in terms of wanting to be the best'.^[44] Messi has denied any rivalry, and blames the media for creating it: 'only the media, the press, who wants us to be at loggerheads but I've never fought with Cristiano'.^[45]

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However, it is widely argued and documented that there's an atmosphere of tension between the duo, with Guillem Balagué claiming in Messi that Ronaldo refers to his Argentine counterpart as 'motherfucker' behind his back,^[46][47] and Luca Caioli saying in his book, Ronaldo: The Obsession for Perfection, that according to his sources, Ronaldo heats up when watching Messi play.^[48] In response to claims that he and Messi do not get on well on a personal level, Ronaldo commented: 'We don't have a relationship outside the world of football, just as we don't with a lot of other players', before adding that in years to come he hopes they can laugh about it together, stating: 'We have to look on this rivalry with a positive spirit, because it's a good thing'.^[49] On 13 November 2014, Ronaldo also threatened to take legal action over the remarks made by Balagué.^[50]After Ronaldo's departure from Madrid to Juventus, Messi admitted to missing him, saying: 'I miss Cristiano. Although it was a bit difficult to see him win trophies, he gave La Liga prestige.'^[51]

Awards and records[edit]

Throughout the existence of the rivalry, the pair have dominated awards ceremonies and broken a multitude of goalscoring records for both club and country, feats which have been described as 'incredible', 'ridiculous' and 'remarkable'.^[52][53][54] The rivalry itself has been described as one about records and reputation of the players, rather than one based in loathing.^[55][56]

Messi is the all-time La Liga top scorer, as well as having the most assists in the competition's history – with Ronaldo in second for goals scored and in third for assists provided^[57] – while Ronaldo is the UEFA Champions League all-time top goalscorer as well as having the most assists in the competition's history – with Messi in second for goals scored and in fifth for assists provided. The two had broken each other's record over the course of 2015 after Messi surpassed the previous record holder Raúl in November 2014.^[58] Ronaldo opened a gap in the 2015–16 season when he became the first player to score double figures in the group stage of the Champions League, setting the record at 11 goals.^[59] They are the first two players to score 100 goals in UEFA Champions League history.^[60]

They dominated the Ballon d'Or/The Best FIFA Men's Player awards since 2008, and UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award since 2014, however, in 2018 their roughly decade-long triumph was ended by Luka Modrić, seen as 'end of an era'.^[61][62][63] However, Modrić stated in an interview for the France Football that 'history will say that a Croatian player, representing his small country, won the Ballon d'Or after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who are players at another level. Nobody has the right to compare themselves to them. They are the best in the history of this sport', and did not think it was the end for them.^[64]

Player statistics[edit]

Club statistics

As of 25 May 2019

International statistics

As of 27 March 2018

Hat-tricks

As of 5 June 2019

^{4 or 5}Player scored 4 or 5 goals

Head-to-head[edit]

In recent years, it has been said that the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona has been 'encapsulated' by the individual rivalry between Ronaldo and Messi,^[67][68] with neither player ever participating in a goalless El Clásico.^[69]

Results[edit]

External links[edit]

• Cristiano Ronaldo Biography (Infographic)He has won the Ballon d’Or award five times and is tied with Messi who is often considered his main rival.