The President and chief administrator of La Liga Javier Tebas has passed his verdict on the debate on who is a better player between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Javier Tebas seemingly prefers Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo.
Football has known a lot of top and extraordinary talents and players that has graced the game. The likes of Pele of Brazil, Maradona, Johan Cruyff, Ronaldo Delima, Zinedine Zidane, George Weah, Ronaldinho, to mention but a few.
However, two giants, one from Europe and the other from South America, have come to dominate modern football.
Individually they have bulldozed records, set new ones, and redefined the limits of what is possible in the game.
The two superstars had swiftly ascended to stardom in the opening seasons of their career, but their rivalry went into overdrive when they spearheaded Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were two of the greatest players ever to step onto the pitch, and they led two of modern football’s greatest sides.
Ronaldo’s nine years at Los Blancos saw him obliterate the club’s goal scoring record with a scarcely believable 450 goals in just 438 appearances, before leaving for Juventus in 2018.
Messi’s 672 goals across 16 Barca matches were not just the club’s highest ever goal tally, but more than tallies of the second highest, third highest and fourth highest combined.
The two players shared a remarkable sporting rivalry across more than a decade. They won 12 of 13 successive Ballon d’Or titles between them, with Messi edging out Ronaldo with seven individual honours compared to the Portuguese superstar’s five gongs, with Luka Modric, in 2018, being the only player to break the sequence
Conversely, Ronaldo leads Messi on Champions League titles won with his five crowns eclipsing Messi’s three (the Argentine officially was part of Barca’s winning squad in 2005/06, but did not feature in the latter stages) in Europe’s premier club competition.
Messi has won more league titles but Ronaldo – who is two years his elder – has scored more goals at both club and international level.
La Liga chief Tebas responded when asked to comment on both stars having left Spanish football: “Well, I think Messi has to come back before Cristiano … But they left and we’re still at the highest level, right?”
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s rivalry peaked when Ronaldo left Manchester United for Real Madrid in 2009.
Playing in the same league, the rivalry was legendary, with the El-Clasico bringing the two football icons physically to square up and settle the debate.
Both stars are said to be on the edges of an eclipse of those glittering years as the logical issue of age continues to take its toll on their performance.
Lionel Messi struggled in his first season with PSG but has since picked his pace and reengaged the fans.
On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo is currently struggling at Manchester United, but the Man United star is far from giving up and is ready to battle for the survival of his career.
When the two greats decide to hang their boots, the world will miss the unprecedented geniuses with their skills, energy, and quality.
