Legends Of The Game – Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo

With their unbelievable scoring, passing, playmaking and skillful abilities, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are arguably the best players in footballing history. In 2021, both players recently broke another record set by Pele around 40 years ago, for the most goals officially scored in a single club by Messi and the most in general by Ronaldo.

I took time to gather information showing the staggering statistics of both players, from assists, goals and titles to personal awards – this was to be compiled into a simple animation format. This is easy to read and is understandable to a non-sport oriented person but also caters for someone who is a sport fanatic. I have personally been watching both of these players battle it out for the past decade, all the way from Ronaldo’s time in England (Manchester United) to Spain (Real Madrid).

Who player is your favourite and why? I may be biased towards Lionel Messi since I support FC Barcelona, however my appreciation for Ronaldo will always be there due to his great rivalry and respect for Messi.

With Lionel Messi leading in overall trophies won and individual honors, he is definitely a player suited towards a more playmaking role that supports the attack going forward. With a deadly left foot and passing ability to split open any defence in the world, man marking Messi is a very important job that only some teams can manage

At the age of 33 Messi continues to be a very vital player for FC Barcelona who are going through a transitiational phase of playstyle, coach, tactics, board and young players gaining experience. After the 2020 summer saga of wanting to leave his childhood club that gave him everything it’s evident the player could exit in the summer 2021 if expectations are not met.

Yet again he still continues to disappoint critics by providing so much to the team.

Ronaldo is a player suited on both flanks and center forward of a team. At the age of 36 and being 3 years older than Messi he still continues to dominate with any team he plays for with consistent goal scoring and box contribution. His playstyle is mostly a winger that likes to cut inside to a central position where he can unleash long range goals, freekicks and headers in the box. 

With his Champions League performances of recent, Ronaldo proves to be a very important player during the last 16 knockout stages where he manages to score in later rounds pushing the team to victory. League titles is also another distinctive comparison between Messi winning trophies in England, Spain and Italy.

Ronaldo with his unbelievable physique, mentally and work ethic proves he can play till 40.