5 reasons why Lionel Messi has had a better career than Cristiano Ronaldo
Between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the GOAT? We take a look at a few things that suggest the former has had a better career.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are undoubtedly two of the greatest players to have ever played the beautiful game. Their supremacy and dominance over the sport has been so comprehensive that it is difficult to choose between the two legendary footballers.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have enjoyed a duopoly of sorts over the Ballon d'Or - football's greatest individual prize - for a little more than the last ten years.
While Cristiano Ronaldo has played for four different sides, namely Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus in his senior career, Lionel Messi has stuck to being a one-club man and has played at Barcelona all throughout his career.
While the GOAT debate looks like it will never be settled, we take a look at five reasons why we believe Lionel Messi has had a better career than Cristiano Ronaldo.
#5 Lionel Messi has won more major trophies than Cristiano Ronaldo
One scale on which great footballers can be compared is the number of major trophies they have won over the course of their careers. Individual brilliance is great but as long as it doesn't translate into trophies, it doesn't matter much as football is primarily a team sport.
In that respect, Lionel Messi has done better than Cristiano Ronaldo. He has won 24 major trophies in his career, four more than Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi has 10 league titles as opposed to Cristiano Ronaldo's 7.
Ronaldo has won more Champions League titles than Lionel Messi but when it comes to national cup competitions - the likes of FA Cup, Copa Del Rey etc. - Lionel Messi has six while Ronaldo has just three.
#4 Lionel Messi has a better goalscoring rate
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals for club and country in his career than Lionel Messi. While Cristiano Ronaldo has 772 goals to his name from 1058 matches, Lionel Messi has 734 goals from just 911.
Ronaldo leads the goalscoring chart by a margin but he has played nearly 150 more matches than Lionel Messi. Messi scores a goal every 100 minutes whereas Cristiano Ronaldo scores one every 112 minutes.
Messi has also clocked more assists than Cristiano Ronaldo in his career. While the Argentine has 309 assists to his name, Cristiano Ronaldo only has 225.