Updated

M E S S I VNov
S R11,
ON 9:40
A L PM
D O GMT+1
.APP

ALL TIME CAREER

MESSI VS
All Time Stats

RONALDO
Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo
.app
PENALTIES FREE KICK GOALS

101/130 141All
/169 58
Time Stats 56
MESSI RONALDO MESSI RONALDO
not including shootouts

ALL
OUTSIDE THE BOXTIME CAREER
INSIDE THE BOX

Excluding club friendlies

78 58 518 543
MESSIMESSI RONALDO MESSIRONALDO
RONALDO
not including free kick goals not including penalty goals
942 315
LEFT FOOT 755 798 RIGHT227
FOOT
1090
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S
633 148 93 509
102 mins per goal 111 mins perRONALDO
goal
MESSI RONALDO MESSI

72HEADERS
mins per goal 86 mins
OTHERperBODY
goal contribution
PART
contribution

26 139 3 2
DETAILED STATSMESSI
MESSI RONALDO RONALDO

Performance Stats

ALL TIME CLUB

SHOTS SHOTS ON TARGET
Excluding friendlies

2,678MESSI 3,334 1,285RONALDO1,378

MESSI RONALDO MESSI RONALDO

786 268 675

League + UCL since 2009/10
683
League + UCL since 2009/10
196 907
% SOF SHOTS
APP ON TARGET
A S S I S TS GOA LS SHOTSASSIST
GOA LS PER GOAL
S APP S

48.0% 41.3%
95 mins per goal 5.09
108 mins per6.41
goal
MESSI RONALDO MESSI RONALDO
League68 mins
+ UCL per 2009/10
since goal 84 mins+per
League UCLgoal contribution
since 2009/10
contribution
SUCCESSFUL DRIBBLES KEY PASSES

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME LEAGUE

MESSI RONALDO

525 192 474 483 142 619

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

90 mins per goal 103 mins per goal

64 mins per goal 80 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

MESSI RONALDO

152 35 123 140 41 184

APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

102 mins per goal 114 mins per goal

80 mins per goal 88 mins per goal contribution

contribution

Ronaldo stats include: 1 goal, 1 assist and 3 appearances in UCL

qualifying for Man Utd + 1 appearance in UCL qualifying for
Sporting

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME DOMESTIC CUPS

Copa del Rey, Coppa Italia, FA Cup, EFL Cup

MESSI RONALDO

80 33 56 45 10 81
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

116 mins per goal 145 mins per goal

73 mins per goal 118 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME DOMESTIC SUPER CUP

Supercopa de Espana, Supercoppa Italiana, FA Community
Shield

MESSI RONALDO

20 5 14 6 0 11
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

119 mins per goal 144 mins per goal

88 mins per goal 144 mins per goal contribution

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME UEFA SUPER CUP

MESSI RONALDO

4 2 3 2 0 2
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

140 mins per goal 49 mins per goal

84 mins per goal contribution 49 mins per goal

contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME CLUB WORLD CUP

MESSI RONALDO

5 1 5 7 3 8
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

85 mins per goal 106 mins per goal

71 mins per goal contribution 74 mins per goal contribution

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME UEFA CUP / EUROPA LEAGUE

MESSI RONALDO

0 0 0 0 0 2
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS GOA LS ASSIST S APP S

0 goals per game 0 goals per game

DETAILED STATS

ALL TIME INTERNATIONALS

MESSI RONALDO

156 47 80 115 31 183

GOA LS ASSIST S APP S
APP S A S S I S TS GOA LS

162 mins per goal 127 mins per goal

102 mins per goal contribution 100 mins per goal

contribution

DETAILED STATS

Messi vs Ronaldo - so
who is the best?
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are two
of the best footballers of all time, arguably
the very best of them all. And remarkably,
their careers have largely coincided, with
both players dominating the game for well
over a decade now. But who is the best?

We compare them both in a number of

different categories and let you decide the
overall winner.

Who scores more

goals?
What really made this rivalry catch fire was
their incredible, unprecedented goalscoring
rates, with both Messi and Ronaldo
averaging more than one goal every game at
their peaks. During the 9 years Ronaldo
spent at Real Madrid, Messi and Ronaldo
both scored a goal every 85 minutes in all
competitions. The adjacency of their
goalscoring - matching each other blow for
blow - has been astounding over the years.

Over their entire careers, it's Messi who

edges the ratio, with 0.80 goals per game,
whereas Ronaldo has scored 0.73 goals per
game. If we drill down into goals per
minutes, Messi scores a goal every 102
minutes, and Ronaldo scores a goal every 111
minutes.

Ronaldo still has more all time career goals

than Messi though (Ronaldo has 798 career
goals and Messi has 755 career goals), but
Ronaldo has played 148 more games over his
career than Messi has.

Although Messi shades the overll ratio,

Ronaldo spent more of his formative years
as a more traditional right winger, only really
starting to focus on goalscoring as his
primary function in 2006, 3-4 years into his
career. For Messi, it was 2-3 years until he
completed the transformation from a nippy
winger into a player hungry for goals above
everything else. If we take these differing
beginnings into account, the ratios would be
even closer.

Of all the categories, goalscoring is the

hardest to separate them on. This one's a tie.

WINNER: TIE

Who provides more

assists?
When it comes to assists, there's only one
winner. Lionel Messi's playmaking abilities
are right up there with the very best, and he
has the numbers to prove it.

Messi has racked up an impressive 315

assists in 942 career appearances,
compared to Ronaldo's 227 assists in 1090
games.

However, because Messi has a clear

ascendancy when it comes to assists, this
often leads people to fall into the trap of
underestimating Ronaldo's proficiency in this
area. Ronaldo's assist numbers are still
extremely impressive compared to the other
mere mortals that play the beautiful game.

In fact, Ronaldo has more in the Champions

League, with 41 assists to Messi's 35 assists
- granted Ronaldo has played 32 more
matches than Messi, but this is still an
impressive tally.

With that said, you can't ignore Messi's

overall assist stats - he takes this category
comfortably.

WINNER: MESSI More Assist Stats

Who's the best at

passing?
The passing stats point to a clear winner in
this category; Lionel Messi. But again,
Ronaldo's passing abilities are often
underestimated.

In the league and Champions League since

2009/10, Messi has made 1207 key passes in
535 appearances, whilst Ronaldo has made
863 key passes in 526 appearances.

Messi also dominates the throughball

statistics, making 389 successful
throughballs in that same time period,
compared to Ronaldo's 81 successful
throughballs.

Although Messi's passing numbers are

clearly superior, Ronaldo's are still
impressive. It's also likely that his passing
stats would have been significantly higher
before 2009 when he was more involved in
the creative build-up play.

WINNER: MESSI More Key Pass Stats

Who's the best at

dribbling?
Ronaldo started his career as a tricky winger,
when his game was all about running at and
beating defenders with his pace and skill. As
he has transitioned to an inside-forward /
striker role over the years, dribbling has
naturally become significantly less of a
factor in Ronaldo's performances.

Messi also started his footballing career

stuck to the by-line, eventually moving to a
more central role as his primary position for
most of his career. However, Messi plays a
very different game to a traditinal centre-
forward, with his natural Number 10 abilities
making him the perfect False 9. As a result
Messi comes much deeper, towards the play,
rather than making runs and playing off the
shoulder of the defenders.

Because he often comes deep to receive the

ball, dribbling is still a major part of Messi's
game, completing an incredible 2895
dribbles in the league and Champions
League, compared to Ronaldo's 1615
successful dribbles (since 2003/04).

There is therefore little doubt that Lionel

Messi is the best when it comes to dribbling.

WINNER: MESSI More Dribbling Stats

Who's the best at

heading?
Heading is without doubt the most clear-cut
category, with Ronaldo's heading stats
absolutely dwarfing Messi's.

Over their entire careers, Ronaldo has

scored 139 headers in 1090 appearances,
whereas Messi has scored just 26 headers
in 942 appearances.

In addition to headed goals, Ronaldo has

also won 685 aerial duels in the league and
Champions League since 2009/10 compared
to Messi's 108 aerial duels won.

Of course, when you look at their respective

builds, the way they play, the way their
teams play, these numbers are hardly
surprising.

WINNER: RONALDO More Aerial Duel

Stats

Who's the best at

shooting?
The stats show that Ronaldo consistently
has more shots on goal than Messi, totalling
3334 shots in the league and Champions
League since 2009/10, compared to Messi's
2678 shots.

However, Messi converts a higher

percentage of his shots, scoring a goal with
every 5.09 shots, whereas Ronaldo scores a
goal with every 6.41 shots.

Leo Messi also gets more of his shots on

target, with 47.98%, of his efforts on target
compared to Ronaldo's 41.33%,.

However, despite Messi's superior efficiency,

the sheer volume of attempts Cristiano
Ronaldo is able to produce is incredible and
an important skill in itself. He also has the
edge in terms of shooting from long-range,
as well as with his weak foot and head, so
that's enough to call this one a tie.

WINNER: TIE More Shooting Stats

Who's the best at

penalties?
When it comes to penalties, Ronaldo's
numbers are comfortably superior to
Messi's, although perhaps not by as much as
some people think. The media perception is
that Messi is unreliable from the spot,
whereas Ronaldo is the ultimate ice-cool
penalty king - the truth, is somewhere in
between.

Excluding shootouts, Ronaldo has scored an

impressive 141 penalties (with 28 misses)
over his whole career, whereas Messi has
scored 101 penalties (with 29 misses).

This gives Ronaldo an overall penalty

conversion rate of 83%, compared to
Messi's overall penalty conversion rate of
78%.

Ronaldo's stats are clearly better, however

he's not as reliable as he is sometimes
portrayed, with other elite strikers such as
Lewandowski and Ibrahimovic boasting
significantly better conversion rates.

In terms of big penalty misses, Messi missed

one in the 2016 Copa America final shootout
against Chile, and the 2012 Champions
League semi-final miss against Chelsea.

For Ronaldo, his biggest penalty misses

came in the 2008 Champions League final
shootout against Chelsea (his Man Utd side
would ultimately go on to win due to John
Terry's miss), and in the 2012 Champions
League semi-final shootout against Bayern
Munich (which did prove fatal for Real
Madrid).

WINNER: RONALDO More Penalty Stats

Who's the best at free

kicks?
In recent years, Messi has become the
ultimate free kick specialist, whilst Ronaldo's
proficiency in this area has diminished
somewhat alarmingly. However, to say that
this category is therefore cut-and-dry is
simple recency bias.

For example, it may be true that from 2017-

2019, Messi scored 23 free kick goals to
Ronaldo's 5; however, from 2009-2011,
Ronaldo scored 21 direct free kick goals to
Messi's 3.

In terms of the all time career stats, Messi

has now scored 58 free kick goals compared
to Ronaldo's 56 free kick goals.

A few years ago this category seemed like a

lock for Cristiano Ronaldo, but Leo Messi's
stunning turnaround in recent years means
he now boasts the greater overall total as
well as the better free kick conversion rate,
so he takes this one.

WINNER: MESSI More Free Kick Stats

Who scores more hat

tricks?
The rate at which Messi and Ronaldo score
hat tricks is scarcely believable, with a
staggering 113 between them; 55 career hat
tricks for Messi and 58 career hat tricks for
Ronaldo.

Ronaldo may still have the overall lead, but

Messi has a slight edge in terms of
frequency. Messi scores a hat trick every
17.1 games, whereas Ronaldo scores a hat
trick every 18.8 games.

These numbers are so tight, and to add to

this, their hat trick count in league games is:
36 hat tricks for Messi and 37 hat-tricks for
Ronaldo. And in the Champions League? 8
hat tricks for Messi and 8 hat tricks for
Ronaldo.

This one's definitely a tie.

WINNER: TIE More Hat-trick Stats

Who has won more

individual awards?
No other footballers in history have
sustained such elite levels for such a long
period of time. Their stranglehold on the
coveted Ballon d'Or award has been
relentless, with Messi's 6 Ballon d'Or
trophies edging Ronaldo's haul of 5 Ballons
d'Or. No other player in history has won
more than 3! If Messi or Ronaldo didn't have
each other to compete with for the award
over the years, it's not inconceivable that
one of them could have picked up the award
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