Lionel Messi currently has more club goals than his arc-rival Cristiano Ronaldo (excluding penalties) despite playing less games than the Portuguese football icon.
Even though Messi has played 150 games less than Ronaldo, the 35-year-old Argentine forward has scored 677 goals without Penalties. This is more than Ronaldo’s total club goals of 671 (without penalties).
In terms of overall club goals scored (excluding friendlies and including penalties), Ronaldo presently holds the lead (700 goals), although Messi is reducing the gap this year. Since 2007, the two era-defining icons have dominated the sport, but as they near the end of their careers, things are finally starting to shift.
Their participation in the forthcoming winter World Cup will probably be their last, after which they will concentrate on maintaining and improving their improbable club records and accomplishments.
The Portugese after scoring 700 career goals was hailed as ‘the best in the world,’ even though Messi looks to be close.
After losing his guaranteed starting position up front under the new manager Erik ten Hag, Ronaldo, 37, has had a difficult season with Manchester United.
Ronaldo had to wait for his next goal after scoring his 699th club goal against Sheriff Tiraspol last month. He missed several opportunities to score more against Cypriot team Omonia in the Europa League on Thursday.
He did, however, finally reached the milestone when he scored in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park after being substituted in during the first half.
Despite United’s difficulties last year, Ronaldo has again surged ahead of Messi in terms of total club goals. The veteran scored a decent 24 goals in all competitions (18 in the Premier League) in his first season back at Old Trafford for the underachieving Red Devils.
Messi, on the other hand, found it difficult to recover his shooting form during his first season away from Barcelona. Six of his eleven goals came in the league, but the Argentine eventually rediscovered his footing as PSG recaptured the Ligue 1 championship.
Things have changed a little bit this season. In preparation for Qatar 2022, Messi is already on pace to surpass his scoring total from last season.
“I feel good, physically,” the 35-year-old Argentine star told ESPN. “I had a good preseason this year, which I wasn’t able to do the year before [when he moved from Barcelona to PSG]. It was key to starting off better, as I did, with a lot of mental focus and eagerness.”
Before transferring to Manchester United in 2003, Ronaldo started his professional career at Sporting, scoring five goals for the Portuguese club.
He previously left Old Trafford for Real Madrid in 2009, and over his two unique stints at United, he has scored 144 goals.
The most prosperous years of his career were spent at Madrid, where Ronaldo went on to set a new club record for goals scored with an incredible 450 in nine seasons of La Liga.
After leaving United, he went on to Juventus in 2018, where he scored 101 goals before coming back to United in 2021.
Ronaldo’s ability to score goals in a variety of leagues has long been cited by supporters as one of the reasons they believe the Portuguese star is superior than his fierce rival Messi.
Since Lionel Messi switched from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain last summer, supporters may now say that the Argentina international has demonstrated his talent in two different competitions.
After adjusting to life in France slowly at first, Messi is now comfortable in his second season at the Parc des Princes. In just 13 games this season, he has already scored eight goals and provided eight assists.
Will Lionel Messi surpass Ronaldo’s 700 Goal Mark?
Currently, Messi has 691 goals in his club career. Ronaldo presently has 700 goals; his next one will be his 701st.
That implies that if Messi wants to surpass his former opponent to the 700-goal mark, he must score nine more goals before Ronaldo does.
Although it may seem like a difficult task, Messi has already surpassed Ronaldo in scoring since the 2022–23 season began by a margin of seven goals.
This season, he has eight goals across all competitions for PSG, compared to Ronaldo’s one goal for United and with 150 games lesser, should Messi continue in this light he will surely surpass Ronaldo’s 700 goal mark.
Lionel Messi is now in fantastic shape. He scored for club and country in six straight matches with his spectacular strike against Benfica in the Champions League.
Messi is now in fantastic shape. He scored for club and country in six straight matches with his spectacular strike against Benfica in the Champions League. He has scored eight goals in all during that run, including braces against Jamaica and Honduras for Argentina and goals in each of his previous four PSG games.
Ronaldo hasn’t started a league game since United’s 4-0 loss to Brentford in early August, making it doubtful that he will start for United in the Premier League anytime soon. Meanwhile, Messi is nearly a lock to start for PSG in Ligue 1. He will only be excluded from Christoph Galtier’s starting lineup if it is decided to rest him.
This weekend, Messi has a chance to significantly reduce the gap. On Saturday, he’s likely to get the start against Reims, who are in 17th position and have given up 19 goals in their first nine games of the season.
Can Messi continue his goal-scoring streak and reach nine goals in nine games against PSG’s remaining opponents, Benfica, Marseille, Ajaccio, Maccabi Haifa, Troyes, Juventus, Lorient, and Auxerre before the midseason World Cup break?
Ronaldo is anticipated to be named on the starting line up for Thursday’s game against Omonia Nicosia, whom are in this season’s Champions League.
Given the opponent, his performance in previous matches, and what is expected to be a brief cameo, Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to score his 701st of club goals.
Before he scored his 700th goal which was against Everton last weekend, Ronaldo hasn’t scored for Manchester United in open play since April. His lone Red Devils goal then came from a penalty shot against Sheriff Tiraspol in Europa League.
He missed a great opportunity to score his 700th club career goal on Thursday against Cypriot minnows Omonia, but Everton could not hinder him.
For PSG this season, Messi has scored a goal every 142 minutes on average. Contrarily, Ronaldo has played 468 minutes on the field and has only scored one penalty goal for United before scoring his first Premier League goal this season.
So if Lionel Messi should continue in this light and Ronaldo continue to struggle for goals, it would be a matter of games before Messi breaks and surpasses the 700 club goals mark.
