Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo: Tale of the Tapes

Stanley Matthews and Alfredo Di Stefano went head-to-head. Pele and Diego Maradona have long contested the accolade for the "greatest player ever." Now we have two awesome players of the modern day game; Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. But who's the complete package?

Ronaldo and Messi have appeared to match each other stride for stride this season. Their goal scoring statistics, for instance, are stunning. But it is not just about goals. To limit footballing attributes to the purely physical is absurd. What about controlling the game? What about providing assists? What about vision? What about precision? What about efficiency? What about tactical awareness and decision-making? What about being involved in all areas of the game?

Precession and Finishing

Fans and pundits compare him most frequently with Diego Maradona because of his prodigious dribbling skills, diminutive stature, low center of gravity and shared Argentine heritage. Maradona himself has called Messi his "successor" on a number of occasions.

Effortlessly, Messi glides past one defender and then another, weaving his way through defenses by means of absurdly quick changes of direction that leave defenders in the box stunned by the speed of his change of pace. Feigning a movement in one direction and then heading in another in a flash, he leaves defenders awestruck as he dashes by them on his way toward goal.

The ball stays glued to his boots until he unloads it onto his left foot and dispatches a shot with clinical precision that rarely misses the target. Simply put, Lionel Messi is the best finisher in the game today, playing at a league above the likes of Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, to be fair, is a great dribbler who has a few tricks up his sleeves, but the prowess that Messi shows every game is unbelievable, and unmatchable even for Ronaldo.


Who's a Better Team Player?

Barca fans are used to brilliance, but none have seen what they are watching now on such a consistent basis. There is a predictability to this side's power: fans arrive early expecting to see every visiting team slain by a flurry of goals—to be slain by the great Lionel Messi.

But that fact is also nurtured by the fact that Messi has two brilliant players in Xavi and Iniesta. Although sometimes guilty of shooting when a certain pass is a reliable option, nevertheless, more often than not, Messi is more likely to close in on defenders and attract the opposition towards him, then find one of his teammates in a goal scoring position.

Ronaldo on the other hand, is more of an individual player. He likes to run in trying to torment the defenders, making them make a challenge and win free kicks for the team.

The fact that Barcelona plays with the same starting line up week in and week out helps players gel together well, understand each other better and hence play as a more complete unit, which is something Real Madrid lacks at the moment.