Messi or Ronaldo? Putting the Debate to Bed
12/08/2010, 4:36pm (PST)
By Caleb Cousins
It may be the hottest debate in sport over the last few years, football enthusiasts have been defending the attributes of their favourite players forever but none have been as intense as this.
It may be the hottest debate in sport over the last few years, football enthusiasts have been defending the attributes of their favourite players forever but none have been as intense as this. Of course the fact that the two are on the opposite sides of the fiercest rivalry in club football only intensifies the debate.
In the year of 2010 Lionel Messi has made the lives of us Barcelona fans much easier with his brilliant play that has ended any and all debate about who is the world’s best player. Even pro-Madrid supporters and Ronaldo fans have changed their tune and changed the topic. Marca may be the best example of this; the pro-Madrid newspaper recently posted an X-Ray of Messi and Ronaldo and stated that Ronaldo was the more complete player. To be honest they are just grasping at straws as this is less a debate any more and more of a last defense by the Ronaldo fans.
To be 100% transparent I am a Cule and a huge fan of Lionel Messi. What is more I do not enjoy the circus that is Real Madrid and their main attraction Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite this I can easily appreciate the fantastic and immense skill that the Portuguese superstar possesses and the fact that this could easily be a hot and lively debate in the not so distant future. For now though the debate can be put to bed, here is why.
Career Analysis:
Let us start at the beginning of their professional careers so that we are fully informed and have a big picture to look at to the more detailed analysis of 2010.
Cristiano Ronaldo was bought by Manchester United in 2003 and was a Red Devil until 2009. He was their key figure in their Champions League win in 2008 and he scored 117 goals with the club in 240 starts in all competitions he also managed to directly create 51 goals for teammates. He won fan’s hearts with his flashy moves, sidewinder shots, and obvious passion for the game. The dark side of this lead to 4 red cards during his time at Manchester but it was a small price to pay for his years of dominance in the English Premier League.
Enter Florentino Perez and the white army over in Madrid. They purchased Ronaldo for a record sum of £80 million to bring him to Spain in the return of the Galactico era. He had a slow start but quickly returned to his world-beating form in the last few years although he has yet to lead them to domestic or European glory that he found so easy in England but his personal statistics speak for themselves. In two seasons with Madrid, Cristiano has 53 goals in 53 matches while directly assisting 13 times.
Starts: 293 Goals: 170 Assists: 64
Ah, Messi, what can we say, he has captured our hearts with his silky smooth moves, his cunning passes, and his humble personality. Born and bred in La Masia he wears the colours of the Blaugrana proudly and makes us proud while watching him. He has been a member of Barcelona FC for ten years now and has featured on the first team for the last six years. His statistics are staggering; in 183 games started he has scored 146 goals and directly assisted 51 times in all competitions. He averages 1.0765 goal creations a game in his career.
Starts: 183 Goals: 146 Assists: 51
An interesting point is that neither player has managed to replicate their club form on the International stage. This is something that will forever hurt the duo’s reputations when compared to former football greats Ronaldo and Zidane who were able to dominate domestic and international football while winning footy’s greatest prize (the World Cup if you are confused). Ronaldo has 25 goals in 79 International appearances while Messi has 15 goals in 53 appearances but most of their goals came in friendlies and neither player were impressive during this summer’s World Cup.
The Coup d'état
It is true that what has separated Messi from Ronaldo recently are his headline skills. He has a ridiculous number of goals -- 70 in his last 72 games. He has also out dribbled Ronaldo this season, completing 50 successful dribbles to the Portuguese's 30.
El Clasico this season was no one-off. This season, Messi has provided 27 assists, seven of them leading to goals. Ronaldo has provided 22, four of them leading to goals. Messi provides a goal every 147 minutes to Ronaldo's 307. Messi has completed 590 passes to Ronaldo's 429. Messi has delivered 105 bad passes to Ronaldo's 159. Messi gives the ball away less often, too. Ronaldo has delivered 45 balls into the area and Messi has delivered 64. Of those, Ronaldo has found his target four times, Messi 60 times.
In total, Messi has tried 695 passes and completed 590 to Ronaldo's 588 and 429. He is involved all over the pitch; his "action areas" are more varied. He participates in moves more often, starts more plays and has more total "actions" in a game than Ronaldo. As for that often eulogized quality known as fight: Messi has even committed more fouls, robbed more balls and won more possession than Ronaldo.
Many Ronaldo fans argue that he would do just as well if he was on Barcelona’s squad. But if you look on his style and the style of the Blaugrana you have to wonder what those fans smoke when making comments like that. When debating with my brother (a Ronaldo fan to the core) the topic of shooting always comes up. “Ronaldo has the better shot” according to fans of the Portuguese forward; I hate to continue to burst their bubble but I’ve got stats for that too.
This season, Ronaldo has taken more shots than Messi. But only 16 percent have gone in, to Messi's 25 percent, while 38 percent have been on target, to Messi's 52 percent. In terms of goals per minute, Messi has scored more -- and more of his goals come away from home, where, in theory, it is more difficult. He has scored the key first goal seven times; Ronaldo just twice. He also has only taken one penalty; Ronaldo has taken four. Ah, you reply, but Ronaldo can hit it far better from distance, as he is bursting with power while Messi is a weakling. Again, that's not true: Messi has scored three from outside the box, the same as Ronaldo from a quarter of the shots.
If these stats do nothing to sway your opinion of Ronaldo then you are a true fan and should be commended for being one. However I hope that this has shown how wide the gap is at the moment. I will repeat what I said at the beginning by saying that Ronaldo could once again challenge Messi for the title but I think the fact that he isn’t even in the final three FIFA Ballon d’Or nominees tell you the gulf between the two at the moment.
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