GOAT Debate: Cristiano Ronaldo beats Lionel Messi to win the Champions League Goal of the Season
What is the story?
Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has beaten Barcelona's Lionel Messi to win the UEFA Champions League goal of the season. UEFA have recently released the list of the top ten goals from the 2018-19 Champions League season, with Ronaldo’s group stage stunner against Manchester United in Turin leaving Messi’s sensational free-kick against Liverpool in the semi-final first leg at the Camp Nou behind.
In case you didn’t know….
Despite winning their respective domestic leagues, Messi and Ronaldo both failed to win the Champions League this season.
Messi’s 51 goals in 50 appearances in all competitions this season proved to be insufficient to guide Barcelona to another Champions League glory as the Catalan giants bowed out of the competition from the semi-final stage against Liverpool. Although the mercurial Argentine did manage to finish the European campaign as the top scorer this season with 12 goals to his name, he failed to inspire Barcelona to a Champions League triumph.
On the other hand, Ronaldo also failed to inspire Juventus to what would have been their first Champions League crown since 1996 as the Italian giants were shocked by Ajax in the quarter-finals. Ronaldo, who scored in both legs of the quarter-final tie, finished the season with six goals to his name in Europe.
The heart of the matter
UEFA have recently confirmed the list of the top ten goals scored in this season’s Champions League on their website. While Ronaldo's strike against Manchester United occupies first spot, Messi's stunning free-kick goal against Liverpool ranks second in the list.
1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus v Manchester United) – group stage matchday four, 07/11/2018
2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona v Liverpool) – semi-final first leg, 01/05/2019
3 Sadio Mané (Bayern v Liverpool) – round of 16 second leg, 13/03/2019
4 Ivan Rakitić (Tottenham v Barcelona) – group stage matchday two, 03/10/2018
5 Leroy Sané (Manchester City v Hoffenheim) – group stage matchday six, 12/12/2018
6 Kylian Mbappé (Manchester United v Paris Saint-Germain) – round of 16 first leg, 12/02/2019
7 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk) – group stage matchday four, 07/11/2018
8 Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona v Tottenham) – group stage matchday six, 11/12/2018
9 Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona v Manchester United) – quarter-final second leg, 16/04/2019
10 Luis Suárez (Barcelona v Liverpool) – semi-final first leg, 01/05/2019
What’s next?
Ronaldo and Messi are both currently gearing up for their national team duties with Portugal and Argentina respectively. While Portugal will face Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League semi-final, Argentina will play in the Copa America 2019.