Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have arguably been the best footballers of their generation. The Ballon d’Or, which is awarded to the best male football player each year, has more or less been shared by the two over the last ten years. With Messi winning it on five occasions and Ronaldo four times, Luka Modric, in 2018, is the only other player to win it in the previous decade.
With 522 goals for Barcelona and 23 trophies – including seven La Liga titles and two Champions League titles – over the last decade, Messi has certainly had the better club record. Ronaldo is not far off though, with 478 club goals and 17 club trophies in the last 10 years, which includes four Champions League titles, two La Liga titles and a Serie A title.
When it comes to Internationals, however, Ronaldo has been ahead. He’s scored 77 international goals for Portugal in the last 10 years as opposed to Messi’s 57 for Argentina. And while Messi has slipped at the final hurdle with Argentina in a number of international tournaments, Ronaldo’s Portugal won the Euro 2016 and the UEFA Nations League in 2019.
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