The debate over who is the better player between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is the most controversial topic in football and possibly sport in general. In fact, as football fans, the names of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are no longer foreign to any of us. Both are great monuments with outstanding personal marks and achievements.
Over time, this debate has evolved from who is the best player to who is the greatest player of all time, also known as the GOAT. Some consider Lionel Messi to be the greatest footballer of all time, while others consider Cristiano Ronaldo to be the greatest footballer of all time. However, if we put aside our emotions and favoritism and focus on the statistics and reality, we will realize that Ronaldo is surely in the lead in the GOAT debate.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a more complete player
Cristiano Ronaldo is a much more complete player than Lionel Messi. Ronaldo is strong in his right foot, left foot and head. Messi, on the other hand, is only strong with his left foot.
His ability to jump and head balls perfectly has even earned him names like CR7 Airways, among others. Ronaldo is also highly skilled and, as we saw in his early days at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United and Real Madrid, he is a dribbler and playmaker.
Ronaldo is such a complete player that he is dangerous every minute of the game. This is exemplified by being the first player in football history to score in every 90 minute. Additionally, Ronaldo currently has an incredible career 57 Hat-tricks, scoring 9 PERFECT Hattricks in the process compared to zero-perfect Hattrick of Messi.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a more prolific player
Ronaldo currently has 813 career goals compared to Messi’s 759. Ronaldo is also the all-time leading goalscorer in the Champions League and the most prolific international goalscorer with 115 goals on the international stage for his country compared to Messi’s 80 goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a key player
A clutch player is a player who performs under pressure and shows up in the big moments. Ronaldo is a good example of a key player as he constantly performs on the big stage compared to Messi who is sometimes a ghost.
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Cristiano Ronaldo has won more at the highest level
Cristiano Ronaldo is a player who has proven himself in the top three leagues in the world, winning at the highest level for both Club and Country.
While Messi can boast of winning more trophies at Barcelona and now at PSG, he hasn’t replicated that form outside of Barcelona, especially with his Argentina team, which he has captained to 4 final defeats, including the FIFA World Cup. 2014 and the Copa América, where he lost. a crucial penalty that cost his country the trophy.
Ronaldo, on the other hand, has replicated his incredible form at Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus, while also captaining his national team to two international trophies, including the 2016 European Championship, which was his first trophy. major international.
Ronaldo is better in the fixed game
Setting the game is very important as it helps teams win games. Set pieces in the context of football consist of penalty kicks, free kicks and corner kicks.
Ronaldo is the master of the game/piece from set pieces. This is backed up by the fact that he has scored an incredible 143 penalties compared to Messi’s 102. It is worth noting that Messi has scored just 77.8% of penalties taken compared to Ronaldo who has scored over 83%. Ronaldo’s consistency in scoring from the penalty spot has led rival fans to name him ‘Penaldo‘.
Ronaldo currently has 55 free kick goals compared to Messi’s 54. This is particularly impressive when considering the decline of Ronaldo, 37, in taking and scoring free kicks over the last 4 years in contrast to Messi, who nearly caught up with him thanks to his consistency in taking free kicks over the last 4 years. years.
Finally, on corner kicks, while Ronaldo does not take corner kicks, he is a great corner threat due to his incredible jumping ability and powerful header which has seen him score hundreds of goals from corners and set pieces.
Read More: Cristiano Ronaldo could make a fairy tale return to Real Madrid as Los Blancos look to bring their superstar back this summer: Reports
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