Lionel Messi is Better Than Cristiano Ronaldo – Stats don’t lie!
Grade 11 students are continuing to bring us interesting and provocative opinions. You might not have watched the World Cup if you were persuaded by Nicolas R’s opinion piece, but if you did this article by Theo M. is likely to interest you.
After the biggest tournament in the world is over, the world’s best players will go back to their respective clubs. Over the course of 15 years the careers of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been at a crossroads but one has always stood out over the other. Lionel Messi trumps Ronaldo in almost every statistical measurement. He has more goals, assists, and trophies. Despite what Ronaldo fans may claim to say he has a better heading, a weak foot, and has been in more leagues. However, Ronaldo supporters fail to distinguish the more important aspects of the game. The statistics measured for who is the better player overwhelmingly agree that there is only one king of football.
Goals and Assists
Goals are the most important aspect of the game of football and are the deciding factors in whether a team wins games or not. Despite Ronaldo playing 149 more games than Messi he still falls short of him in average goals per game scored. Ronaldo has an average of 0.72 goals per game compared to the superior Lionel Messi with 0.80. Despite the claim made by many that Ronaldo is a better goal scorer, assists in football are what makes the goals possible and in order to be a better overall attacking player in this sport one must be able to provide both. In addition, Messi has played 149 games less than Ronaldo and still has 112 more assists than him. This compellingly shows that Messi is by far the better playmaker than Ronaldo and is therefore more complete in both aspects – goals and assists – than Ronaldo.
Trophies & Awards
Accolades are massively important in the game of football. They award the best teams throughout the duration of a competition and also award the best players for the statistics they have put up in the awards given category. Even though Ronaldo has played two more seasons than Messi, the little genius still trumps him with a staggering 40 trophies to Ronaldo’s 32. Not to mention individual accomplishments. The 3 highest individual awards in football and the top level competitions are the Fifa World Player of the Year, The Ballon D’or and European Golden Boot. Messi exceeds Ronaldo in all of them.
Some may give Ronaldo the edge simply for his physical abilities and the longevity of his career but no one can deny the simple metrics of the game, statistics. Messi is better than Ronaldo.
What do you think? Comments can be left below!
