Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi swapped teams in the same summer for the first time in history in 2021.
Ronaldo made an emotional return to Manchester United after notifying Juventus that he wanted to depart only days before the transfer market closed.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would not be able to agree on who is the finest footballer in the world right now.
This season has been their worst since they began playing football.
With 20 goals and three assists, CR7 leads the way, while Messi has 11/6.
Messi, on the other hand, was in the opposite situation. The Argentine did not want to leave Barcelona, but he was unable to do so due to financial constraints.
Even though the Real Madrid-Barcelona rivalry is no longer active, and has been for some years, the two teams are nevertheless compared and contrasted every season.
So far in 2021/22, here’s how their records compare.
Ronaldo | Messi | |
| Games | 30 | 22 |
| Minutes | 2,328 | 1,792 |
| Goals | 15 | 7 |
| Assists | 3 | 9 |
Who has scored more goals in 2021-22: Ronaldo or Messi?
So far this season, Ronaldo has a clear advantage over Messi in this category. In all competitions, the Manchester United striker has scored 15 goals, compared to Messi’s seven.
Messi has only scored twice in Ligue 1 this season, against Nantes in November and Lille in February, but he has racked up seven assists.
Ronaldo, on the other hand, leads United in Premier League scoring with nine goals, including a game-winning brace against Arsenal.
Both players have been in good form in the Champions League, with Messi leading the way with five goals in 2021-22 and Ronaldo second with six, despite the fact that the Red Devils are no longer in the competition.
Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United couldn’t have started any better, as he scored two goals on his second debut for the club, having previously played at Old Trafford from 2003 and 2009.
After the international break, he was thrust into the starting lineup against Newcastle and scored two goals, the first of which was a predatory finish from close range and the second of which was blasted into the net through the keeper’s arms.
A few days later, he made his second European debut against Young Boys, and despite Man United losing 2-1, Ronaldo scored the game’s first goal by squeezing a finish home at the front post after a beautiful pass from Bruno Fernandes.
Ronaldo scored for the third time in a row at West Ham, striking at the second attempt from close range to square the scores at 1-1 in the first half.
In the Champions League, he scored against Villarreal and Atalanta, the latter a spectacular winning header as Man Utd came back from two goals down to win 3-2 at Old Trafford. On October 30, he also scored a stunning goal in a 3-0 win over Tottenham.
As if that wasn’t enough, the Portugal international then earned a point for his team in the Champions League by scoring a brace in a 2-2 draw with Atalanta.
And Ronaldo guaranteed Man Utd won their Champions League group by breaking the deadlock in a 2-0 win at Villarreal on November 23, followed by a brace in a crucial 3-2 win over Arsenal at Old Trafford.
On December 11, he scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 Premier League victory over Norwich, as well as a goal and an assist in a 3-1 win over Burnley.
Ronaldo overcame his longest goal drought in 13 years when he scored against Brighton on February 15, but he had a rocky start to 2022.
After making his PSG debut as a substitute against Reims, Lionel Messi has played fewer minutes than Cristiano Ronaldo. He showed off some nice touches and passes in his cameo appearance without overdoing it.
On September 28, Messi scored his first goal for PSG, a stunning curling effort in a 2-0 Champions League victory over Man City, coached by his former manager Pep Guardiola.
On October 10, he scored two more goals in a 3-2 Champions League victory over Leipzig.
It would be another month before he scored in Ligue 1, with a signature goal against Nantes at Parc des Princes establishing his account.
He went on to score twice in the Champions League against Club Brugge, but his second domestic goal in France had to wait until February 6th. After getting clean through on the goalkeeper, this was a wonderful dinked finish.
Who has more assists in 2021/22: Ronaldo or Messi?
When it came to scoring goals for their teammates, both Ronaldo and Messi had a poor start to the 2021/22 season.
Cristiano’s first assist of the season came on October 30th, when he set up Edinson Cavani in a 3-0 victory over Tottenham.
In a 3-1 victory over Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1, Messi completed a rare hat-trick of assists.
From a free kick, Messi set up Marquinhos for the goal, then teed up compatriot Angel Di Maria for the equalizer 11 minutes from time, before crossing for Marquinhos to seal the victory.
He began 2022 with a hot streak of assists for PSG in Ligue 1, recording a key pass in four consecutive games, putting him 9-3 ahead of Ronaldo in this category.
We can all agree that Messi and Ronaldo are having their worst seasons, but one is 37 (Ronaldo) in the world’s best league and the other is 34 (Messi) in the world’s sixth-best league.
With these numbers, I’m confident we can see that despite playing in a less difficult league and being surrounded by world-class players like Mbappe, Neymar Jr, and Angel Di Maria, Messi is experiencing his worst season yet.
