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Aron Wright - November 28, 2024
Throughout football’s history, there have been many great rivalries between clubs, like the Superclásico of Boca Juniors vs. River Plate, the Derby D’Italia of Juventus vs. Inter Milan, and arguably the biggest of them all, El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Intense derby fixtures, fuelled by history, draw an extra level of interest and drive even casual bettors to find the best football bets for the big games. But when it comes down to one of the greatest rivalries involving players, the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate will rumble on for decades, long after they have both hung up their boots.
Spain legend and former World Cup winner, Gerard Piqué, recently weighed in on the argument with his insights about whether Messi or Ronaldo, who have won 13 Ballon d’Or titles between them, is better. The defensive great has had a good view of this, having played with both superstars during his career.
Can one man settle the Messi vs Ronaldo debate? Well, Gerard Piqué, in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport, put his two cents into the pot. He weighed in by coming down on the side of Lionel Messi being the best.
During the interview, Piqué, who played with Ronaldo at Manchester United and Messi at Barcelona, stated “Leo is an extraterrestrial; he doesn’t belong on this planet. I have seen him train every day, doing incredible things. There will never be anyone with his speed of thought and determination again. He arrived at the age of 13 and has played the same way, both in the Barça academy and in the first team.”
While he heaped praise on the famous number 10, Pique didn’t in any way put down the contribution that Cristiano Ronaldo has made to the game. He intimated that while Ronaldo is the best of all human football players, Messi beats him because of his “extraterrestrial” qualities.
Piqué had the privilege of playing with Lionel Messi for so many seasons, when Barcelona were pretty much untouchable on the pitch under head coach Pep Guardiola. Had the defender instead been at Real Madrid when Cristiano Ronaldo was at the peak of his career, perhaps even Piqué would say otherwise.
So what can settle the debate? What do the stats say about whether Messi or Ronaldo is the best?
Messi has won 8 Ballon d’Or awards, compared to Ronaldo’s 5. The last time that Ronaldo picked up the individual honour was in 2017. Since then Messi has won it three times, most recently when he upset the odds in 2023 by beating Man City’s Erling Haaland to the top prize.
Messi has won far more trophies during his career than Cristiano Ronaldo has, 46-35. That’s a substantial lead, and Messi has claimed 13 league titles during his career, compared to just 7 by Ronaldo.
Ronaldo did get his hands on the Champions League trophy five times, compared to the four occasions that Messi did. But perhaps the big one in this category, is where it really counts, the FIFA World Cup.
Lionel Messi helped guide Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup title by beating France. During the match, Messi scored a brace before going on to convert his spot kick during the tense 4-2 shoot-out success.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time leading goalscorer in international football, breaking a previous long-standing record held by Ali Daei of Iran. Ronaldo and Messi are both well into triple figures in international goals. But by the time Ronaldo retires, his international goalscoring record, which stood at 135 at the end of 2024, is going to look untouchable for a very long time.
Before Lionel Messi ended up at Inter Miami in the MLS and Cristiano Ronaldo went off to Saudi Arabia, both players tallied over 700 goals during their club careers in Europe. Messi slightly edged it with 704 goals to 701 and from around 90 fewer appearances than Ronaldo as well. Add in the fact that Messi tallied over a hundred more assists than Ronaldo did in European club football, maybe Piqué was onto something.
There is no conclusion. Fans have their favourites. Real Madrid and Man Utd loyalists will probably lean more towards their former star Ronaldo, while the Barcelona faithful will never turn their back on Messi during a debate. It’s a rivalry that will always be up for debate.
