Cristiano Ronaldo–Lionel Messi rivalry
The Cristiano Ronaldo–Lionel Messi rivalry is a rivalry in association football between two perceived rival players. Ronaldo and Messi are both regarded as being among the all-time great players in the sport, having won a combined six FIFA Ballon d'Or awards. Both players have scored in two UEFA Champions League finals and have regularly broken the 50 goal barrier in a single season. Both have scored over 400 goals in their career for club and country.[1][2] Sports journalists and pundits regularly argue the individual merits of both players in an attempt to argue who they believe is the best player in modern football.[3][4][5][6][7] It has been compared to legendary global sports rivalriessuch as the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing which culminated with the Thrilla in Manila, the Borg–McEnroe rivalry in tennis, and the Ayrton Senna–Alain Prost rivalry in Formula One
Goalscoring awards
European Golden Shoe
The European Golden Shoe is awarded to the top goalscorer in Europe. Since the points system was established in 1996, Ronaldo and Messi are two of only three players, along with Mário Jardel, to score 80 or more points, while Messi is the only player to score 100 points. The Golden Shoe is awarded based on a weighted points system that allows players in tougher leagues to win even if they score fewer goals than a player in a weaker league. Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the UEFA coefficientsrankings are multiplied by a factor of two, and goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 are multiplied by 1.5. Ronaldo and Messi are the only players to win the award three times.
Season | Player | League | Goals | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007–08 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) | Premier League | 31 | 62 |
2008–09 | Diego Forlán (Atlético Madrid) | La Liga | 32 | 64 |
2009–10 | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | La Liga | 34 | 68 |
2010–11 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) | La Liga | 40 | 80 |
2011–12 | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | La Liga | 50 | 100 |
2012–13 | Lionel Messi (Barcelona) | La Liga | 46 | 92 |
2013–14 | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) | La Liga | 31 | 62 |
Luis Suárez (Liverpool) | Premier League |
Player Statistics
- As of end of season 2013–14
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International statistics[183]
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Hat-tricks and more[edit]
Lionel Messi | ||||||
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No. | Date | Competition | Home team | Away team | Score | |
1 | 10 March 2007 | La Liga | Barcelona | Real Madrid | 3–3[211] | |
2 | 6 January 2009 | Copa del Rey | Atlético Madrid | Barcelona | 1–3[212] | |
3 | 10 January 2010 | La Liga | Tenerife | Barcelona | 0–5[213] | |
4 | 14 March 2010 | La Liga | Barcelona | Valencia | 3–0[214] | |
5 | 21 March 2010 | La Liga | Real Zaragoza | Barcelona | 2–4[215] | |
6 | 6 April 2010 | Champions League | Barcelona | Arsenal | 4–1[216] | |
7 | 21 August 2010 | Supercopa de España | Barcelona | Sevilla | 4–0[217] | |
8 | 20 November 2010 | La Liga | Almería | Barcelona | 0–8[85] | |
9 | 12 January 2011 | Copa del Rey | Barcelona | Real Betis | 5–0[218] | |
10 | 5 February 2011 | La Liga | Barcelona | Atlético Madrid | 3–0[219] | |
11 | 17 September 2011 | La Liga | Barcelona | Osasuna | 8–0[220] | |
12 | 24 September 2011 | La Liga | Barcelona | Atlético Madrid | 5–0[112] | |
13 | 29 October 2011 | La Liga | Barcelona | Real Mallorca | 5–0[221] | |
14 | 1 November 2011 | Champions League | Viktoria Plzeň | Barcelona | 0–4[222] | |
15 | 22 January 2012 | La Liga | Málaga | Barcelona | 1–4[223] | |
16 | 19 February 2012 | La Liga | Barcelona | Valencia | 5–1[224] | |
17 | 29 February 2012 | Internationalfriendly | Switzerland | Argentina | 1–3[225] | |
18 | 7 March 2012 | Champions League | Barcelona | Bayer Leverkusen | 7–1[226] | |
19 | 20 March 2012 | La Liga | Barcelona | Granada | 5–3[227] | |
20 | 2 May 2012 | La Liga | Barcelona | Málaga | 4–1[228] | |
21 | 5 May 2012 | La Liga | Barcelona | Espanyol | 4–0[229] | |
22 | 8 June 2012 | Internationalfriendly | Argentina | Brazil | 4–3[230] | |
23 | 20 October 2012 | La Liga | Deportivo La Coruña | Barcelona | 4–5[231] | |
24 | 27 January 2013 | La Liga | Barcelona | Osasuna | 5–1[138] | |
25 | 14 June 2013 | Internationalfriendly | Guatemala | Argentina | 4–0[232] | |
26 | 1 September 2013 | La Liga | Valencia | Barcelona | 3–2[233] | |
27 | 18 September 2013 | Champions League | Barcelona | Ajax | 4–0[234] | |
28 | 16 March 2014 | La Liga | Barcelona | Osasuna | 7–0[235] | |
29 | 23 March 2014 | La Liga | Real Madrid | Barcelona | 3–4[236] | |
30 | 22 November 2014 | La Liga | Barcelona | Sevilla | 5–1[237] | |
31 | 25 November 2014 | Champions League | APOEL | Barcelona | 0–4[238] |