The most debated question in football of our time: Who's better, Ronaldo or Messi?
It's too early to answer that question in terms of who is better all time because neither has ended, nor is close to ending his career. But as far as the 2011-2012 season is concerned, here are the facts:
Lets start by comparing goal scoring statistics:
Portuguese ace Cristiano Ronaldo has tallied a remarkable 57 goals in all competitions so far this season. While the Argentine virtuoso, Lionel Messi, boasts an even more impressive 65 goals. Messi’s goal total (so far) is only two short of the all time record of 67 set by former Bayern Munich striker Gerd Mueller in the 1972-1973 season.
Who is more efficient: Messi on average takes fewer shots (6.2), on average, than Ronaldo (7.1) and still manages to score more.
Who is the better dribbler: Messi has dribbled the ball about twice as much as Ronaldo, they have 213 and 94 completed dribbles respectively. This averages out to 4.5 completed dribbles per game for Messi, and 2.4 for Ronaldo.
Who really gets the most help:
Too often I hear comments like: "Oh, well Messi has Xavi and Iniesta so of course Ronaldo is better." First of all, what the effff does that even mean!? I interpret such comments as Madrid fans accepting that Barça is the better team. If you take a look of the table belo, clearly Ronaldo gets more goal scoring help, as Higuain and Benzema round out the top five goal scorers in La Liga. Moreover, Messi has scored 43% of Barcelona's total La Liga goals while Ronaldo has scored 38% of Los Blancos La Liga goals.
When it comes to assists, which can be seen as the possible help available to each of these remarkable players, it looks Ronaldo has more teammates capable of delivering assists.
The better passer of the two: Messi completes nearly 73 passes per game while Ronaldo completes about 40. Messi has a greater pass completion percentage at 85.6% compared to Ronaldo's 79.8%
When it comes to finishing with the head, executing on set pieces and physical prowess Ronaldo is superior to Messi. These, however, are difficult to quantitate.
One thing that I've noticed about Ronaldo is that he's really cut down on the flashiness of his dribbles, which kind of disappoints me.
Currently, the two super stars are level at 43 goals in La Liga, having surpassed the record for most goals in La Liga in one season.
In my opinion, Messi is having a more extraordinary season. His contributions to the team are unprecedented and if he surpasses Mueller's record for most goals in one season in all competitions, it would be absolutely historic and, the way I see it, Messi would no doubt win his fourth Ballon d'Or.
Oh, and just for laughs:
And while I am a die-hard Barcelona fan, and constantly talk about how I think Messi is better, I do understand and acknowledge the fact that it's really too early to say which of the two is better. For we have many years of greatness to witness. Many years to duke it out and debate the question. And even when they're done and retired, we will still continue to debate. So for now, who do you guys think is better? Who is having the better 2011-2012 season?
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