In case you didn’t know…
Messi and Ronaldo have been the subjects of one of football’s most intense debates for over a decade and it is exactly this consistency that makes the conversation enduring.
The talismanic pair have raised the bar for other football players to unprecedented heights with their flair, goalscoring abilities and complementary consistency.
Both players, who are in their thirties, continue to break individual records and win titles with their respective clubs. While Messi led Barcelona to a consecutive La Liga title last season, Ronaldo helped Juventus to their eighth successive Serie A trophy.
Messi won the Pichichi Trophy and the European Golden Shoe for his scintillating exploits in front of goal last term. The Argentine netted 36 goals in the Spanish top-flight alone and tallied a massive 51 goals in all competitions for the Catalan giants.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo was named the Serie A Player of the Year in his first season in the Italian top-flight, scoring 21 league goals and providing eight assists for the Bianconeri.
The heart of the matter
Lineker, who is a long-time Messi superfan, has now explained why he would choose the Argentine over Ronaldo as the ‘greatest player of all time’.
When asked to make the choice between the two in an interview with SportBible, he said,
What’s next?
While Messi is expected to be sidelined for Barcelona’s La Liga opener against Athletic Bilbao on Friday, Ronaldo will likely feature for Juventus when they kick off their new campaign against Parma on August 24th.
0 votes
