"Has absolutely everything" - When Manchester United legend picked Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes once picked Lionel Messi ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the GOAT debate. The English maestro played alongside the Portuguese for the Red Devils for six seasons.
Scholes watched the lanky teenager transform into a world-beater from up close at Old Trafford. Ronaldo won multiple trophies with the Premier League giants before moving to Real Madrid in 2009.
However, speaking to ESPN in 2019, Scholes reckoned that Lionel Messi is a more complete footballer than Ronaldo.
“Watching Messi against Tottenham at Wembley [in 2019] made me think about the Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo debate again,” said Scholes.
He continued:
“Messi, but Ronaldo is brilliant. Ronaldo is sensational at what he does, with pace and power. He scores, he takes free-kicks. But as an all-round footballer, Messi – wow, his passing – has absolutely everything.”
The Portuguese regularly came up against the Argentinean during their time together in LaLiga. For the next nine seasons, the two modern superstars of football had the world immersed in the GOAT debate.
Even after Cristiano Ronaldo left Los Blancos in the summer of 2018 to join Juventus, his rivalry with Lionel Messi showed no signs of slowing down. Now, with both players at the twilight of their illustrious careers, fans remain daggers drawn and the world stays divided into two camps. Many, though, would suggest that the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has moved ahead in the GOAT debate after winning the FIFA World Cup in 2022.
How many goals have Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi scored to date?
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's goalscoring prowess remains unparalleled in world football at the moment. The Portuguese has scored 915 goals and set up 256 more from 1254 games across competitions for club and country in his career.
A chunk of his goals has been scored for Real Madrid, with the player registering 450 goals from 438 games during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner also has 145 goals for Manchester United, 135 for Portugal, and 101 goals for Juventus.
Ronaldo also scored five goals for Sporting during the start of his career. He has found the back of the net 73 times from 82 games for Al-Nassr so far.
Messi, meanwhile, has 850 goals and 379 assists from 1083 games in his career. He has scored 672 goals for Barcelona, 32 for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), and 34 for Inter Miami.