Messi vs. Ronaldo: who's better?

Messi vs. Ronaldo: who's better?

Ronaldo should be considered the GOAT of football, even after Messi's World Cup win. The true measure of greatness lies in the breadth and consistency of achievements, and Ronaldo's record speaks for itself. He has scored more goals for club and country than Messi, and goals are the most crucial aspect of the game. Moreover, Ronaldo has excelled across multiple leagues and for his national team, proving his ability to perform at the highest level in diverse circumstances. This versatility and sustained excellence set him apart in the debate for the greatest of all time

Lionel Messi should be the GOAT. Messi can even play in the Midfield but Ronaldo cannot. His eight Ballon d'Or titles are testaments to his sustained excellence. Messi's ability to create opportunities for teammates while scoring prolifically sets him apart. Talking about records, Messi also holds numerous records such as the most title won. Ronaldo scores more goals as he is a striker in nature which he is meant to score goals. His loyalty to Barcelona for over two decades highlights his integral role in their success. Ronaldo can be the best striker ever but Messi is the GOAT.

I don't think Ballon d'Or titles should decide this debate. Ronaldo scores more goals because he's a striker—fair enough. But the Ballon d'Or is biased toward number 10s. Messi's "loyalty" isn't a strong argument either. In my opinion, the GOAT should excel under different coaches and with different teammates. Messi found a system that worked for him at Barcelona and stayed, but it's hard to argue he'd be just as successful at other clubs. The ability to thrive in various environments is crucial, and that's where Ronaldo has proven himself superior.

Playing for more clubs and countries should not be considered as better. On the other hand Ronaldo did not show dominance after his first Man Utd and Real years. Lionel Messi's long-term dominance at Barcelona shouldn't be undervalued. Messi consistently faced evolving challenges and adapted his game to maintain peak performance. Messi's transfer to Paris Saint-Germain and his continued excellence there further prove his adaptability with he is playing more of a Midfield. Also, Messi is not a traditional number 10. In the past 30 Ballon d'or winners, only Baggio, Kaka and Zidane truely plays number 10.

My concern with the time Messi spent at PSG is around the fact that they couldn't win a champions league with a squad of that caliber, it seems to me that Messi just has less of that killer instinct. Again the football purists will look at the average performance of each player and I agree Messi would be better under those circumstances, however, Ronaldo has that killer instinct, which is reflected in his champions league record, it's not about who has a higher "football ability" it's about who wins football matches when it counts.

well I think now we are talking about who is better. But it seems we do not find one single standard now, are we talk about who perfporm better in competition or if he is a good guy?

Cristiano Ronaldo is playing in Europe as he is playing more micronations like San Marino which is considered as the worst footballing nation in the world, ranking the dead last in FIFA rankings. If Messi is playing for Spain, which he could, he will also be scoring bangers against these teams. Ronaldo is scoring more goals which is true, but Messi is dishing out way more assists than CR7. He also holds the record for most goals in a calender year.

IMO the word GOAT is all encompassing, it's the player who's participation in football has that special quality that makes football the beautiful game that it is

Killer instinct is not a good argument. When you are talking about Champions League wins, you seemed to be forgetting the help Ronaldo gets. Ronaldo won four out of five CL in Real and none In Juve and the second time he is in Man Utd when Man Utd at the time was a mess. Could we all agree that winning CL requires a well constructed team? When Messi is in PSG, the backline and midfield of the team is a mess. It is way behind with the top teams like Man City.

I would like to bring up the best argument for Messi being the GOAT, the recent world cup win. I will admit I thank my lucky stars that I was able to witness a football match like that. But Messi was not even the most important player in that final, Mbappe scored more goals and the argentinian keeper is who really won the match, take away the world cup and Ronaldo's international record is more impressive

I agree that GOAT is the one who make football a beautiful game. That is why I usually do not argue whether Messi or Ronaldo is better. I just admire them both and felt lucky to be in the era to witness them both. However, in terms of the footballing ability and skills, I do think Messi is slightly better.

I think it is hard to say that any Barca team that had Messi, Neymar and Suarez was a mess, With a squad of that caliber they should have won more, And Simply the fact that CR7 did win CL with more than one team shows that it was him that was the special sauce not just the team around him

"Messi is not the most important player in the final" means that you did not watch the game. Football is not only about scoring. If so, Anthony is probably better than Modric. However, I do agree that Mbappe is the best performer in the final. On the other hand are we trying to ignore that Messi was 34/35 when he won the WC? Also, Market Value means nothing lol, Messi is 2 years younger than Ronaldo that's why.

I did not say that Barca with Messi Neymar and Suarez was a mess lol please read carefully.

The monetary value asssigned to the players is a hard argument to make when they were both so extremely valuble, the difference between them was reltively small.

Cristiano Ronaldo's market value was higher than Lionel Messi's for 65% of the years from 2004 to 2024. This indicates that Ronaldo had a higher market value for a significant portion of their careers, reflecting periods where his performance, transfers, and market factors favored him over Messi.

Adam wrote:I did not say that Barca with Messi Neymar and Suarez was a mess lol please read carefully.

Yeah misread lol sorry

Fay wrote:The monetary value asssigned to the players is a hard argument to make when they were both so extremely valuble, the difference between them was reltively small.

but we are talking about who is better but not how "small" the distance is. you have also to admist even the gap is small. but Ronaldo is better one

It probably just shows that Striker is more in needed in the footballing world. Market Value really means little to nothing. Do you think Joao Felix better than Ruben Diaz?

Yeah I see where you are coming from on the money thing, I guess my objection is more just about the use of transfer price in the GOAT debate in general, the GOAT is whoever we decide it is as the fans, we own this discussion and no one can take it away from us, but market value is decided by some business exec in an office, not related to what football is really about