Wednesday night saw Barcelona entertain Bayern Munich at the Nou camp, and contesting for a place in the Champions League Final. Never did I expect that by the final whistle my opinion and beliefs of the Messi vs Ronaldo debate could change so quickly. It was almost painful to see the way Messi made Boateng look like your average Sunday league centre back, the way in which he have the German jelly legs. I was gobsmacked watching, then I realised after years and years, that Lionel Messi was on another planet to any other footballer.
It's been an argument that has and is still going on; who is better, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi? If we look at it from a Balon D'or perspective, Messi has 4 and Ronaldo has 3, so Messi takes the lead within this argument. If we look at career goals the argument strays towards Ronaldo, who has an impressive 413 career goals. Messi has 371 goals in all competitions for Barcelona respectively, and what we are comparing here is two phenomenons of the beautiful game. No player will ever I think be able to reach the heights these two have already achieved, and they both still have at least 5 years at the very top level in my opinion.
I was always of the opinion that Ronaldo was better than Messi overall. However it is very hard to compare them as they are such different specimens of player. For example Ronaldo's game is largely based on power, pace and trickery, he is also a athlete in his physical stature. Whereas Messi's game is based on technique, dribbling skill, and precise body movements that always have defenders falling around his feet. I also feel that Messi was born with a skill and a gift to play football, and Ronaldo has worked everyday of his life to be able to be at the level he is now. This is why it is so difficult to compare the players, they are both so different and unique, and the best at their own attributes. This season i have watched both superstars very very closely. Ronaldo clearly is not happy at Real Madrid, his body language and attitude look as if he is fed up. But I'm not writing this blog to fuel incorrect transfer roomers, however I feel his apparent low level of happiness has really affected his form in the Spanish capital, and this season whenever i have seen them both it seems to me as if its Lionel Messi who is on top once again.
Ronaldo may be the best on this planet, but for me Messi is on another planet entirely. The way he scored that goal against a world cup winner least we forget was borderline criminal. There is no bigger admirer of Cristiano Ronaldo than myself, I've been lucky enough to have seen him in the flesh in a life performance at Old Trafford many times. However I think you have to be realistic when talking about football in this modern day. Too many people cannot see the clear truth about heated football debates, and there is no doubt that Lionel Messi is the best player, forget in world football, hes the best ever. For me there is also still room for improvement, he is only 27 years of age. This is the outstanding thing, the fact that he has broken nearly every record there is to break in the footballing world and he is still more than 2 years off his 30th birthday.
It also comes down to who would you rather have in your side. Messi or Ronaldo. I think this is hard for United fans alike as I would always say Ronaldo, because of his fantastic legacy at United. But without being subjective in this viewpoint you would have to say Messi would be of more value to most European clubs. Recently I have noticed Ronaldo does not have any desire for anyone else to score Real Madrid's goals, everyone saw two weeks ago when Ronaldo became incensed when Arbeloa 'Stole' a goal from him. Messi is more of a team player and has recently continued to work harder at this feat to improve his overall performance.
Personally, Ronaldo is still my favourite player of all time, and that's far from likely to change anytime soon. But after watching what Messi did to Bayern Munich on Wednesday night it truly made me and I believe more football fans around the world the continued belief that Messi is the benchmark for every other player in world football. But lets get one thing straight, what we are seeing in this modern day, and by Having Messi and Ronaldo performing as they do week in and week out will never be repeated, and we will only truly be grateful when both magicians have retired.
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