Poll: The Greatest? Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo

[Kill_Phil]

Toss of a coin really.

Ronaldo has everything in his locker but has had to work hard at it and has done it in different leagues

Whereas Messi is the more naturally gifted player and its insane some of the things he does.

I guess it comes to how you as an individual defines greatness

 

[FrankJH]

I wish Messi had gone to other countries earlier in his career (or even now but not to such a "gimme" for the title) as for me this is the biggest factor in why Ronaldo is better.
Multiple titles in multiple countries says it all for me, no matter how naturally talented Messi is

Im not doubting how hard both of them work at it, but you still have to be born with an innate skill to be as good as they both are they just show it in different ways

 

[FrankJH]

I was waiting for somebody to reply with that.......Messi's taking the set-play In terms of contributing to attacking set-plays, albeit differently, Messi contributes just as much.

As for being a better athlete, so what? Similarly to Neville's weird the right foot, left food, header arguement, all that matters is the end result not how they get there. Ronaldo is physically stronger and quicker but Messi still scores at a better rate than he does, Messi still creates goals and attacks and contributes to the team as a whole more than Ronaldo does.

Cant have it both ways
The stats cant matter for Messi if they dont for CR7

If its all about the end result then through balls, dribbles, passes are irrelevant and right foot, left foot and header take precedent (all that matters is the end result)
Left foot, right foot, header is just as important as it shows how much less reliant on one skill /one foot they are ....how more rounded they are

Messi's stats will also be padded a bit by the period of Barcelona being clearly above everyone else for a few years - yet Ronaldo's 4 CL wins in 5 years the same was never said about RM (possibly because of lack of La Liga titles and other spanish cups in the same period)

 

[BaZ87]

Cant have it both ways
The stats cant matter for Messi if they dont for CR7

What? Your post makes no sense whatsoever. It doesn't matter which part of their body they score or assist with (it doesn't count for 2 if you score with your backside), it only matters that they are scoring and creating and Messi does both at a better rate.

You say Messi's stats are padded because Barca were better, well they were better because of him. It's not like Ronaldo didn't join an inferior League that was dominated by 1 side (instead of 2/3) to pad his stats. Ill concede that they no longer dominated from 12 months after he joined though

 

[The_One]

Messi absolutely tearing it up at the moment in that farmer's league…

 

[bayo000]

For me it's deffo Ronaldo and that's mainly because I think Ronaldo can easily fit/ adjust to any team. Messi, I feel, needs the team to be build around him.

 

[The Running Man]

Don't also forget that Messi had HGH pumped into him from being a young teenager to we don't exactly know when.

Had it not been for HGH he wouldn't have been the player he is today.

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Not sure why this pathetic argument keeps getting brought out whenever there's debate about Messi, he had growth hormone deficiency and HGH is the legally prescribed treatment.

 

[Hive]

I voted Ronaldo but am very surprised with the votes as I expected Messi to have been ahead.

 

[Ayahuasca]

A couple of years ago now but this was one of the largest polls I've seen, carried out by the crisp shagger:

 

[bayo000]

A couple of years ago now but this was one of the largest polls I've seen, carried out by the crisp shagger:

Would be interesting to see it again in 6 months or after the season to give Messi time to settle at PSG, he's not moved club since he was a kid so deserves time to adjust. But if he doesn't perform this season I think lot of people will change their mind.

 

[Reuben klang]

27 - Lionel Messi has scored 27 goals in 35 appearances against English teams in the UEFA Champions League; 15 more than any other player in the competition. Collector.

—

Wouldn’t be able to score against Norwich, Newcastle etc though.

Still annoying he chose the easy route.

 

[HangTime]

This "different leagues" thing I don't think stacks up for me given there is Champions League, international competitions etc.

Take Baresi and Maldini for example, didn't play for different teams never mind different leagues. Didn't mean they weren't elite tier.

 

[MartinPrince]

All I can say is there are a lot of Man U fans voting.

I've had the privilege of watching both of these live on a few occasions. Though I would ask this question of people who have watched them both hundreds of times - people like Gerry Armstrong who commentated for La Liga games when it was on Sky and other people like him like Guillem Balague et al, who do they say is the 'greatest footballer'? .... Messi.

 

[e36Adz]

United fan here, Messi is the best to ever play the game for me.

 

[MikeTimbers]

Ronaldo has won trophies everywhere he has gone. If Messi can take PSG to a CL win then I might change my mind but so far he's been a one team player.

FWIW, I think there have been better players in the past than either of these. Cruyf was insanely good, for example. Beckenbauer, Moore, Best. My personal favourite, Dalglish. Maradona in his youth, the list goes on.

 

[FrankJH]

This "different leagues" thing I don't think stacks up for me given there is Champions League, international competitions etc.

Take Baresi and Maldini for example, didn't play for different teams never mind different leagues. Didn't mean they weren't elite tier.

CL (and even EL) games are played totally differently to PL league games. They are much more continental in how they are usually played out (unless its two EPL sides against each other of course).

It definitely stacks up that Ronaldo has tested himself in 4 different leagues and won multiple league titles in 3 of them as well as multiple Champions Leagues.

Plenty of Elite tie players in every position - but to be the best of the best you really should have other factors on your side.

If you are a goal scorer then scoring with both feet and headers regularly (no one is going to try and score with anything else, so these can be happy co-incidences rather than anything else) is another accomplishment, just as important as % of successful passes, blocks, etc etc etc but of course having the assortment of riches around Messi doesnt count for anything - two of the best midfielders in the last 20-30 years in Xavi and Iniesta being around him didnt affect the core of his career at all - yeah ok hmm (let alone the other 7 outfield players that made the whole Barca team for 4-5 years completely untouchable had nothing to do with it at all.!!

 

[HangTime]

I don't really see why CL games being played different to league games makes a difference but fair enough, if you remove CL from the equation then Ronaldo falls back in comparison to Messi, as his CL stats are very impressive (double figures 7 seasons in a row - wow!)

Xavi left in 2015. Since then, Messi has scored more league goals than Ronaldo.
Iniesta left in 2018. Since then, Messi has scored more league goals than Ronaldo.
Wow - given he was so reliant on them, imagine what numbers Messi would have if Xavi and Iniesta had stuck around!

Proving yourself in different leagues is great and all but you can't really hold it against players who stay in the same league and obliterate all-comers and then play Champions League, the best of the best from these leagues they should supposedly go and challenges themselves in, and win that multiple times as well.

 

[Lopéz]

Two staggeringly good footballers who've done it consistently for an almost unbelievable amount of time.

I prefer Messi to watch.

 

[apnewscorner]

Both are great but peronsaly cristiano ronaldo