Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Who is having the better season?
When Cristiano Ronaldo left Spain for Italy in the summer, many thought that it was the end of the nail-biting Messi-Ronaldo rivalry that had lit up the football world in the last decade. While the Portuguese was in Spain, both Superstars vied for the same trophies and tried to get the better of each other in the fabled El Clasico. Now that Ronaldo was gone, it seemed that the rivalry would fade away into the depths of time. People did not expect the comparisons to make the news again, yet 6 months into the new season, little has changed in the world of football.
Every time Lionel Messi does something brilliant, people turn over to see what Ronaldo has to offer. Every time Ronaldo scores a goal, the comparisons are back. It seems that those two cannot be spoken of apart from each other and that is the beauty of their rivalry. Even though both are playing in the different league and different countries now, the comparisons are inevitable. Because both of them represent the crème de la crème in football right now and the debate of who among the two is better, divides families and unites nations.
As such, today we attempt to assess who has been better so far this season. When the competition is so severe, the margins are infinitely small, yet the statistics and results so far this season point out a very clear picture. Read on to find out who among Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is having the better season so far, but feel free to draw the conclusions yourself.
All Stats are courtesy of Whoscored and Transfermarkt
#5 Shots on target
In the LaLiga, Lionel Messi has registered 82 shots so far, with 52 of them on target, both of which are the highest in the league. He has a shooting accuracy of 63% and is averaging 4.9 shots per game. In the Champions League, the stats are even higher, as the Argentinean is averaging 5.3 shots per game.
Even though Ronaldo has shifted to a new league in summer, his playing style has not been affected at all. The Portuguese has attempted 107 shots from 22 games in Serie A and 58 of those have been on target. He has a shooting accuracy of 54% and he is averaging 6.5 shots per game. In the Champions League, he has been relatively quiet so far but has still managed an average of 5.6 shots per game.
Advantage - Cristiano Ronaldo