Messi v Ronaldo

SlickRic

this rivalry has obviously been mentioned a lot in the past, but i don't remember the last thread on it if there was one. I'm hoping this can turn into the main area of discussion on this whole issue.

i think everyone will probably agree that the two are heads and shoulders above absolutely everyone else in the world right now, and reality have been for the last 2/3 years.

Rooney was awesome last season, but as a whole, the last few years have been owned by Lionel and Cristiano.

Messi, since 2004: 150 appearances and 93 goals.
Ronaldo, since joining Utd in 2003: 233 appearances and 119 goals.

(those stats are probably slightly unfair on Ronaldo as he's been ridiculously prolific, like Messi, the last 3/4 years, and i can't be arsed finding definitive stats for the last couple of years!).

so who is it?

for me, it's Messi. just. simply because of the style with which he plays; coupled with the end product.

but Ronaldo's directness, no lack of skill and all-round physical attributes are just awesome.

we are in the midst of watching 2 players, who could well be remembered as two of the absolute best ever. no exaggeration IMO.

but whose your genius of choice?!

everdead.ie

Lionel Messi

Hmm Bale me thinks these boys are just a flash in the pan

:P

Professey Chin

Been mentioned here before(cant remember by who)
Messi is a better footballer.Ronaldo is a better athlete.
Personally though its Ronaldo.So many great memories when he played for Man Utd and some of the goals and moments of magic have been amazing.
Personal favourite was in the champions league a few years ago.Running about 20 yards,jumping stupidly high to get on the end of a cross,scoring and being unable to celebrate cause he creased himself on the landing

edit: This one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LvkTkA1Dng

killwill

Lionel Messi

I am not necessarily saying Ronaldo is better, but I do prefer him to Messi. When he chooses to use it, he has immense strength. His speed, his free kicks, everything about him including his arrogance I love.
Messi obviously is ridiculously talented too but he has the charisma of a dead fish. Now everyone will say what has that to do with football, but if I was to build a team in the morning, it would simply be built around Ronaldo.

#15

I'm going with Messi. But this will be a headwrecker of a thread. The exaggeration on both sides will be off the charts.

You mustn't have enough things to do SlickRic - that can be the only reason for starting this thread. Happy modding!!:P:pac:

killwill

Lionel Messi

Ultimate Chin wrote: »

Been mentioned here before(cant remember by who)
Messi is a better footballer.Ronaldo is a better athlete.
Personally though its Ronaldo.So many great memories when he played for Man Utd and some of the goals and moments of magic have been amazing.
Personal favourite was in the champions league a few years ago.Running about 40 yards,jumping stupidly high to get on the end of a cross,scoring and being unable to celebrate cause he creased himself on the landing

His bullet of a header versus Chelsea in the CL final?

Mitch Connor

killwill wrote: »

His bullet of a header versus Chelsea in the CL final?

Roma away I think.

KeithAFC

Best player in the world is Xavi.

But between these two, Messi.

Mitch Connor

I prefer to watch Messi, there is little to chose between them, but I think Messi is better. He scores as much as Ronnie, but he creates more as well.

I agree with what was said previously in that Ronnie is a better athlete - is a bigger danger in the air and possibly has more drive and strength, is the more powerful player.

However, he doesn't do much that Messi doesn't/can't. More so the other way around, Messi is a better dribbler, I would say more versatile on frees, better passing too.

killwill

Lionel Messi

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Roma away I think.

Just saw the youtube clip now. Christ that was a great goal. Forgot all about it.

everdead.ie

Lionel Messi

I actually think I prefer Ronaldo because I think he is more entertaining but that said there isn't much in them

#15

KeithAFC wrote: »

Best player in the world is Xavi.

But between these two, Messi.

Jesus.

Messi is considerably better than Xavi. Xavi is one of the best of his generation, Messi is heading towards greatest of all time.

flahavaj

Who's gonna be the first to think that someone saying one is slightly better means the other by default is crap I wonder? Because thats what inevitably happens in such threads and then the sh*t hits the fan.

karma_

Messi without a shadow of a doubt, he is the greatest player of this generation.

SlickRic

flahavaj wrote: »

Who's gonna be the first to think that someone saying one is slightly better means the other by default is crap I wonder?Because thats what inevitably happens in such threads and then the sh*t hits the fan.

i'm really hoping not.

and if someone does, it should be ignored, because that opinion would then be deemed meaningless, because there's barely anything between them.

it's almost all about personal preference, which is what should make for interesting discussion, potentially.

as i say, the two, IMO, will go down as two of the greatest ever.

KeithAFC

#15 wrote: »

Jesus.

Messi is considerably better than Xavi. Xavi is one of the best of his generation, Messi is heading towards greatest of all time.

Xavi is the conducter. The engine. I rate him higher than Messi anyway.

Kylo Ren

Lionel Messi

Luke Chadwick 4 Life

flahavaj

KeithAFC wrote: »

Best player in the world is Xavi.

I actually agree with this. He is more fundamental to the Barca gameplan than Messi. No one else could do the job he does for the team.

KeithAFC

Its all fine and well praising the players who put the ball in the net and show the fancy skills but i find the players who conduct the play and organise it don't get the credit. Iv seen it at my own club in the last 15 years.

Bog

Why is there such a judgemental element in football these days? Everyone has to have their say down to whether whose groundsman has the best source of grass seeds.

Both Messi and Ronaldo are exceptional footballers and are both a joy to watch. Just be happy we can see them regularly rather than in the faded annals of some football encyclopedia.

#15

flahavaj wrote: »

I actually agree with this. He is more fundamental to the Barca gameplan than Messi. No one else could do the job he does for the team.

You're off your head Flah.:pac:

Messi is unstoppable. He's one of a kind, a true artist. There's a Xavi or two in every generation.

dyl10

I think Drogba would be pissed if you told him Ronaldo was head and shoulders above him...

Jayob10

Messi everyday of the week. And I will bet that anyone who says Ronaldo, is a United fan who has great memories of what he did in a red shirt.

Ronaldo is a wonderful player, trully great. Superb athlete, speed, excellent in the air, and a great finisher. He is also a fantastic lad to have in the dressing room by all accounts who also sets a very high standard of work ethic in training.

However I just think Messi is a once off. He makes excellent defenders look ordinary, he doesnt have the advantage of an imposing physique like Ronnie does but my god he has the art of shielding the ball down to a tee, the ball looks like its glued to his foot and he has one thing Ronnie doesn't and that is the ability to jink either way in very tight spaces which is a nightmare for defenders.

He will in time be remembered as the greatest of all time in my opinion. Also he is humble and gives the impression sometimes that he is still a young kid playing ball in the streets.

Overall to separate the two, I would say Ronnie will diminish slightly when his pace goes, whereas Messi just has the look of a player who will still beat players without it. He doesn't rely on it as much.

I take nothing away from Ronaldo though, he is second only to Messi.

MuPpItJoCkEy

Lionel Messi

I think I would fear facing Ronaldo more than I would Messi. Messi is a brilliant player without a doubt but think about it, the size of Ronaldo is more of a pain to deal with than Messi and on that note, it gives Ronaldo an edge considering that both players can score and have skill so I went down the route of who would be more of a handful.

They both can dribble, they're both fast, the pair can score and create so now it would be more down to who I would rather face and although it would never happen, I would rather be facing Messi and maybe more footballers who aren't the tallest would feel the same.

It might seem like a odd way to look at it but hey, it's a different angle.

On another note, Ronaldo has been tested in a different league which is considered to be one of the best leagues in the world which you could say has been proven by the English dominance of the Champions League over the last while and while in the Premiership, Ronaldo came up tops which he is also doing in La Liga.

I would love to see how Messi would get on in the Premiership as all that could be done is to speculate how he would fair out and see how he would adapt.

Ronaldo's ego gives him more confidence than he already needs.

Right, as you may have guessed anyway, Ronaldo for me is the better player.

flahavaj

#15 wrote: »

You're off your head Flah.:pac:

Messi is unstoppable. He's one of a kind, a true artist. There's a Xavi or two in every generation.

I don't expect many to agree with me but I stand by my argument. When I saw him in the flesh and how omniprescent he is in everything Barca do it cemented it for me. You could at least replace Messi's goals with someone like Ronaldo, there's no one who can do what Xavi does for Barca in the way that he can do it.

Jayob10

flahavaj wrote: »

I actually agree with this. He is more fundamental to the Barca gameplan than Messi. No one else could do the job he does for the team.

Just because he is more fundamental to the Barca gameplan doesn't make him a better player.

Scholes was fundamental to Uniteds game for years, but doesn't make him a better player than Ronaldo (in his spell with United).

Xavi is an amazing player. You cannot compare them really, but the Messi type player is more rare, you don't see a player of his calibre crop up alot, maybe once every 15-20 years.

flahavaj

Jayob10 wrote: »

Just because he is more fundamental to the Barca gameplan doesn't make him a better player.

Scholes was fundamental to Uniteds game for years, but doesn't make him a better player than Ronaldo (in his spell with United).

Xavi is an amazing player. You cannot compare them really, but the Messi type player is more rare, you don't see a player of his calibre crop up alot, maybe once every 15-20 years.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I think Xavi is just as rare as the Messis of this world, he just doesn't do the obvious job that Messi does in getting goals and assists. I could also argue that I think Scholes > Ronaldo btw but then a sh*tstorm will really start.:p

Anyway I'm not gonna bang on about Xavi anymore as its not fair on the OP (especially since I've already p*ssed and moaned about such treads getting derailed:pac:).

Jayob10

flahavaj wrote: »

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I think Xavi is just as rare as the Messis of this world, he just doesn't do the obvious job that Messi does in getting goals and assists. I could also argue that I think Scholes > Ronaldo btw but then a sh*tstorm will really start.:p

Anyway I'm not gonna bang on about Xavi anymore as its not fair on the OP (especially since I've already p*ssed and moaned about such treads getting derailed:pac:).

I don't really want to drag this thread off topic anymore than I have (after already p*ssing and moaning about how these threads get derailed:pac:) so i'm not gonna go on about Xavi any more.

jaysus not knocking Xavi at all, amazing player. I suppose ya can't really compare such players in all honesty.

CR 7

Lionel Messi

On a very simple level, at the moment, I prefer to watch Real than Barca, solely to watch Ronaldo play. That's good enough reasoning for me.

Dolph Starbeam

Simply has to be Messi, his style is pure class, Ronaldo though a great athlete with great strenght and some of the quickest feet i have ever seen is way way way to frustrating to watch, unnesessary step overs etc., people who think he is the greatest free kick taker in the world need to open there eyes, Ronaldo style free kicks and all the other rubbish SSN would talk about, flip Juninho has been hitting free kicks like that years before Ronaldo started doing it, and heck Juninho has scored a hell of a lot more of them than Ronaldo ever will.

While i'm ranting i might as well get it all out, Ronaldo trying not to allow Alonso to take the penalty last season, with Ronaldo i sthink he worries about himself more than the team. Real were also winning the game by 3 or 4 goals so it wasn't exactly an important penalty. How Ronaldo is still taking free kicks at Real i will never know, let someone else take them.

I won't deny that a large part of the reason of why i picked Messi over Ronaldo is because Ronaldo is an absolute to$$er but i do believe Messi has everything in his game and if i had to forget how much i hate Ronaldo and chose the player who i believe is more talented and will add more to a team i would still be picking Messi, i still can't believe how consistent this man is, every single week he performs and he looks like he enjoys it a lot more than CR.

Both great players and i am sure will be remembered as greats in years to come but for me there is only one winner.

Mr.Nice Guy

Messi for me. 'Different class' as Jimmy Magee would say. Isn't it interesting though that by their high standards you could say they had a poor World Cup (though I thought Messi played well generally but got little joy, woodwork, amazing goalkeeper saves etc.)

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Jesus, Messi is head and shoulders above Ronaldo. End of discussion. Ronaldo has yet to put in a solid 90 mins on a big stage. Even in last years CL QF against Lyon he only played for himself, tried these stupid tricks and was shooting from ridiculous distances. In the biggest game in club football when they played against each other there was only 1 winner. Barca were missing 2 of their 1st choice defenders yet Ronnie was as ineffective as the sun.
I honestly wouldn't rate Ronaldo in the top 5 in the world, and its not that I hate him, I actually quite like him. He's an entertainer. But he has flopped when it really mattered far too often. IMO the top 5 in the world are: 1. Messi 2. Xavi 3.Iniesta 4. Rooney 5. Fabregas
I think the only way you could pick Ronaldo over Messi is if you're a United fan.

Jayob10

THFC wrote: »

Jesus, Messi is head and shoulders above Ronaldo. End of discussion. Ronaldo has yet to put in a solid 90 mins on a big stage. Even in last years CL QF against Lyon he only played for himself, tried these stupid tricks and was shooting from ridiculous distances. In the biggest game in club football when they played against each other there was only 1 winner. Barca were missing 2 of their 1st choice defenders yet Ronnie was as ineffective as the sun.
I honestly wouldn't rate Ronaldo in the top 5 in the world, and its not that I hate him, I actually quite like him. He's an entertainer. But he has flopped when it really mattered far too often. IMO the top 5 in the world are: 1. Messi 2. Xavi 3.Iniesta 4. Rooney 5. Fabregas
I think the only way you could pick Ronaldo over Messi is if you're a United fan.

you were doing well with your argument for a while.

Whilst I agree that Messi is the better player, putting Rooney above Ronaldo renders your argument null and void

For me its
1. Messi
2. Ronaldo
3. Iniesta

I wouldn't compare Xavi with Messi or Ronaldo to be honest, very different players.
Being seen as a c*nt is what marks Ronaldo down in most peoples book. He is streets ahead of Rooney and i'd question anyones judgement who thinks otherwise. You can claim that its just an opinion. Fair enough. But some opinions are nonsense

KeithAFC

Jayob10 wrote: »

Just because he is more fundamental to the Barca gameplan doesn't make him a better player.

Scholes was fundamental to Uniteds game for years, but doesn't make him a better player than Ronaldo (in his spell with United).

Xavi is an amazing player. You cannot compare them really, but the Messi type player is more rare, you don't see a player of his calibre crop up alot, maybe once every 15-20 years.

I think Scholes is a better player than Ronaldo. Scholes did it year in year out, top class, the all round midfield player.

Soby

KeithAFC wrote: »

I think Scholes is a better player than Ronaldo. Scholes did it year in year out, top class, the all round midfield player.

Here we go :rolleyes:

KeithAFC

Soby wrote: »

Here we go :rolleyes:

Just my view. I know its off topic. Sorry.

Soby

KeithAFC wrote: »

Just my view. I know its off topic. Sorry.

Ah im only messing. But come on to say Scholes is a better player than Ronaldo is a bit much now

Peyton Manning

Lionel Messi

MOG7 wrote: »

How Ronaldo is still taking free kicks at Real i will never know, let someone else take them.

Are you serious?

Dont be at yourself

Lionel Messi

Two, of the all-time greatest, that's for sure. Have to give it, begrudgingly, to Ronaldo though. He's such an all-round player. Pace, strength, skill, shooting, heading... All you can ask for in a forward.

kryogen

Lionel Messi

I prefer to watch Ronaldo, always have, always will

Beast of a player

TheDoc

Lionel Messi

I think its Ronaldo for me.

He posseses some absolutely tremendous traits and ability.

But lets me honest there is literally an atom between the two with both having great shouts at being the best.

For me though Ronaldo's unstoppable Season at United puts him just above, I love watching him play.

Messi does some wonderful things but he doesnt seem to get me fired and excited. I just go " o nice one"

with Ronaldo when he starts running you just get on the edge of your seat.

Hopefully the thread can be a civil one and we can respect other peoples opinions on whose best, cause I don't think anyone can be wrong here ther eis literally such a small margin between the two.

If one indeed is better then the other.

Leeds fan by the way, and a serious neutral when it comes to Premier League football.

Have to say having Ronaldo do the business in england and then go to Spain and set that league on fire aswell shows great character and ability.

Would messi be able to be the same player in England? I'm sure he could but it would be interesting to ponder.

davyjose

Lionel Messi

TheDoc wrote: »

Have to say having Ronaldo do the business in england and then go to Spain and set that league on fire aswell shows great character and ability.

+1 This is an incredible achievement, IMO. Not a lot of players leave a great team, built around them, and then pick up where they left of with another great club. Mark of someone special IMO.

Cool Running

Its gotta be Messi for me.

Ronaldo has everything in his game except attitude. Just thinking back to last year when he missed a penalty and Benezma scored the rebound and he didnt even celebrate with him.

Messi has everything including attitude. A real team player, its not all about him

The Floyd p

Messi everyday of the Week. Don't get me wrong,Cristiano Ronaldo is a fantastic footballer but Messi is the last person you want to come up against as a defender IMO. He'd leave you for dead and slot it past the keeper without breaking a sweat

CR 7

Lionel Messi

Cool Running wrote: »

Its gotta be Messi for me.

Ronaldo has everything in his game except attitude. Just thinking back to last year when he missed a penalty and Benezma scored the rebound and he didnt even celebrate with him.

Messi has everything including attitude. A real team player, its not all about him

But it's the attitude that makes him great, the selfishness that means he will score as many goals as he possibly can, because he knows he's the best person to do it.

And I just don't like the way people still think Messi is some form of angel, he has just as bad of an attitude as Ronaldo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rPzq9i83t8

The Floyd p wrote: »

Messi everyday of the Week. Don't get me wrong,Cristiano Ronaldo is a fantastic footballer but Messi is the last person you want to come up against as a defender IMO. He'd leave you for dead and slot it past the keeper without breaking a sweat

For me, it's the fact Ronaldo has the same ability with the ball, but with the physical strength to not be pushed around as well, I would think defenders are far more frightened of him. Like the way Drogba and Torres cause Vidic the most problems.

L'prof

Park Ji Sung wrote: »

And I just don't like the way people still think Messi is some form of angel, he has just as bad of an attitude as Ronaldo

Messi's certainly no angel, but compared to Ronaldo he is!

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Park Ji Sung wrote: »

But it's the attitude that makes him great, the selfishness that means he will score as many goals as he possibly can, because he knows he's the best person to do it.

And I just don't like the way people still think Messi is some form of angel, he has just as bad of an attitude as Ronaldo;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rPzq9i83t8

For me, it's the fact Ronaldo has the same ability with the ball, but with the physical strength to not be pushed around as well, I would think defenders are far more frightened of him. Like the way Drogba and Torres cause Vidic the most problems.

Messi was getting kicked around in that match. Was enough to piss anyone off.
As to the bit in bold that what he's convinced himself. He had the likes of Kaka + Higuain on his team and he was as selfish as he could be. Haven't seen much of him this year so cant really comment.
And Messi gets pushed around!? I don't know what Messi you're watching... I remember in the CL Final 2009 Ferdinand and co kicking him as he drifted by but he never went down, completely the opposite to what Ronaldo would do.
Anyways this video has convinced me of his superiority. I must have watched it twenty times by now and I still get totally amazed everytime I watch it. It is just mesmorizing. If anyone can find me a video of Ronaldo doing anything near as specacular I'd love to see it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jenupVFSzjs

PHB

Ronaldo for me, every time. I love his style of play. Every aspect of his game is top class, no weaknesses.

Nalz

Whoever chucky the tre said we should all agree with, so Ronaldo it is

eZe^

Park Ji Sung wrote: »

For me, it's the fact Ronaldo has the same ability with the ball, but with the physical strength to not be pushed around as well, I would think defenders are far more frightened of him. Like the way Drogba and Torres cause Vidic the most problems.

I actually don't think you could be more wrong. Ronaldo is of course a stronger and more physical athlete, but Ronaldo is exactly the sort of player who when fouled throws himself to the ground. Now that's not to say he's diving, he's just winning the freekick he rightfully deserves when he gets fouled. Messi is much much more likely to ride the challenge and continue on his run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN6zTox-hhk

I think that sums up exactly why Messi is a more special player. If that was any other player in the world, they would have drawn the foul at the halfway line and taken the free kick.

I also think Messi's background story is just fantastic, the amount of little things that transpired in such a way that we now see him every week, when he could quite easily have been lost forever in absolute mediocrity because of a birth defect.

Ronaldo is a fantastic player, and one of the most rounded athletes who I've ever seen play the game, but I think Messi is just in the tier above him. Even when Lionel was an inexperienced 17 year old kid whose decision making was very bad, he'd have that little burst of magic in him that just oozed legend in the making. I reckon Ronaldo will be remembered in the same vein as Thierry Henry, with Messi up there with Maradona.

stumpypeeps

PHB wrote: »

Ronaldo for me, every time. I love his style of play. Every aspect of his game is top class, no weaknesses.

I'd say Ronaldo's biggest weakness is mental. He fails to perform on the biggest stage. A man for a small occasion. Against better teams, he's completely ineffectual. He never did anything against Liverpool for instance. Or Chelsea.

Messi gets better the bigger the occasion.

Messi is less selfish also and more of a team player. Ronaldo is only interested in himself. A horrible presence in the dressing room I'd imagine. The epitomy of all thats wrong in the game.