Messi–Ronaldo rivalry



The Messi–Ronaldo rivalry is a football rivalry between fans of Argentinian forward Lionel Messi and Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo and supposedly between the athletes themselves. Having won a combined 11 Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Or awards (six for Messi and five for Ronaldo) and 10 European Golden Shoe awards (six for Messi and four won by Ronaldo), both are widely regarded not only as the two best players of their generation, but also, by most in the sport, including players, writers and fans, as two of the greatest of all time. They are two of the most decorated football players ever, having won a combined 64 trophies (Ronaldo 30, Messi 34) during their senior careers thus far, and have regularly broken the 50-goal barrier in a single season. They are amongst the 29 players in the history of the sport to score over 500 career goals, currently ranked 2nd (Ronaldo) and 6th (Messi), respectively, with both having scored over 700 goals each in their careers for club and country.

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 or ever. Regardless of preference, football critics unanimously agree that both are the best players of their generation, outperforming their peers by a significant margin. Messi's dribbling skills are among the very best in the history of football, while Ronaldo's leadership and influence in big games, particularly under pressure, are well-appreciated worldwide. 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 Alain Prost–Ayrton Senna rivalry in Formula One motor racing. Some commentators choose to analyse the differing physiques and playing styles of the two, 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.

At club level, Messi and Ronaldo represented rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid for nearly a decade. 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. 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. 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. They have the two largest social media followings in the world among sportspeople with a combined over 213 million Facebook fans in 2019, Ronaldo having over 123 million and Messi over 90 million. As well as a combined 410 million followers on Instagram as of November 2020, Ronaldo is the most followed individual on the entire service, with over 242 million followers whilst Messi has 168 million followers.

History
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".

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

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", was again hyped as the latest battle between the two, this time to settle who was the best player in the world; Ronaldo claimed he was the better of the two while Messi's club-mate Xavi sided with him. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was more diplomatic, praising both players as being amongst the world's elite talents. Messi, playing in a central role he was unaccustomed to so he would avoid a direct battle with Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra, scored Barcelona's second in a 2–0 victory with a header in the 70th minute. 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.

From 2009 to 2018, they played against each other at least twice per season during El Clasico matches, but many times they met in other competitions like Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup and, in 2011, in a two-legged Champions League semifinal. Messi gained four consecutive Ballon d'Or awards (2009 to 2012) with a fifth coming in 2015, while Ronaldo had equalized the total wins by winning in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Since 2019 Messi takes the lead again thanks to his sixth edition won, with just 7 points more than van Dijk with Ronaldo placed third. In total, they reached the podium a record 12 times each. Messi won two Champions League while Ronaldo playing for Real Madrid, with the European securing four out of five between 2014 and 2018. Messi during this period won five Pichichi trophies and European Golden Shoe awards (2010, 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2018) while Ronaldo won these prizes thrice each (2011, 2014 and 2015). From 2009 to 2018, Ronaldo was the Champions League topscorer on six consecutive years with Messi achieving this feat four times.

Relationship between Messi and Ronaldo
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" 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". 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".

In an interview Messi stated that there is no tension between him and Ronaldo and that it was fake news.

However, it is widely argued and documented that there's an atmosphere of tension between the duo, with Guillem Balagué claiming Ronaldo  that refers to his Argentine counterpart as a "motherfucker" behind his back,  and Luca Caioli saying in his book, Ronaldo: The Obsession for Perfection, that, according to his sources, Ronaldo heats up when watching Messi play. 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". On 13 November 2014, Ronaldo also threatened to take legal action over the remarks made by Balagué. After Ronaldo's departure from Real 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." During a joint interview at the UEFA Player of the Year ceremony in 2019, Ronaldo said he would like to "have dinner together in the future". And Messi had a reply for that later "If I get an invitation, why not."

Awards and records
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". The rivalry itself has been described as one about records and reputation of the players, rather than one based in loathing.

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 – while Ronaldo is the UEFA Champions League all-time top goalscorer and assist provider, with Messi in second for both goals scored and assists provided in the competition's history. The two had broken each other's record over the course of 2015 after Messi surpassed the previous record holder Raúl in November 2014. 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. They are the first two players to score 100 goals in UEFA Champions League history.

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 the "end of an era". 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". Since 2008, Messi has won six Ballons d'Or to Ronaldo's five, six FIFA World's Best Player awards to Ronaldo's five, and six European Golden Shoes to Ronaldo's four.

Collectively, Ronaldo has won seven league titles and five Champions Leagues, and guided Portugal to their first trophies (UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2019 UEFA Nations League). He has also won three national cups, two league cups, five national super cups, two European Super Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups.

Messi has won a club record 34 major trophies as a Barcelona player, including ten league titles, four Champions Leagues, six Copa del Rey titles, eight Spanish Super Cups, three European Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups. As for youth competitions, Messi won a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games held in China, and he had previously won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2005, being elected best player and top scorer of the tournament. Moreover, Messi was runner-up at three Copa Américas and at the 2014 World Cup, where he was named player of the tournament.

Club statistics

 * Notes

Hat-tricks
4 or 5 Player scored 4 or 5 goals

Head-to-head
In past years, it has been said that the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona has been "encapsulated" by the individual rivalry between Ronaldo and Messi, with there never being a goalless El Clásico between the two.

Head-to-head summary
Last updated 8 December 2020