[THREAD] Messi vs Ronaldo in the UCL

I see a lot of these graphics about "knockout stage goals" for both Messi and Ronaldo, but I want to bring some context to this argument.

*Note: This is not to undermine Ronaldo, but to clear up some misconceptions regarding this debate.

The gap has been particularly large over the past 4 seasons.

Numbers (15/16-18/19):
- Ronaldo: 26 goals
- Messi: 13 goals

But that is primarily because Ronaldo has had the better team around him. When Messi has had the better team.. (see next tweet)

When Messi has had the better team, the numbers basically flip.

Numbers (08/09 - 11/12):
- Ronaldo: 14 goals
- Messi 24 goals.

So in those 8 seasons combined, the gap is only 3 goals. That is marginal considering everything else Messi brings to the table.

12 of the remaining 16 goal difference (career) comes from:

12/13:
- Ronaldo: 6 goals (3 vs Galatasaray)
- Messi: 3 goals (carrying an injury in QF 2nd leg & SFs; he only started 1/3 of those matches).

13/14
- Ronaldo: 8 goals (4 vs Schalke)
- Messi: 2 goals

and..

14/15:
- Ronaldo: 5 goals (3 vs Schalke)
- Messi: 2 goals.

But Messi was objectively better in the knockout stage that year.

Av. Rating [ @WhoScored] in knockout stages (14/15):
- Ronaldo: 7.6 (1 MoM in 6 games)
- Messi: 8.77 (4 MoM in 7 games)

The remaining 4 goals:

06/07:
- Ronaldo: 3
- Messi: 0 (he was 19)

07/08:
- Ronaldo: 3
- Messi: 2

The biggest difference is in the 13/14 season. If you want to keep arguing about that - go ahead.

But considering that Messi has objectively been the superior league player (more goals, assists, titles), one UCL campaign shouldn’t factor that highly in career comparisons.

Moreover, Messi's teams have generally suffered more in ties where he's failed to score/assist.

Since 07/08:
- Ronaldo: 7 such ties, his teams have lost only 2 (Barça'09 and Barça'11) [win%: 71%]
- Messi: 8 such ties, his teams have won only 2 (Schalke'08, Juve'15) [win%: 25%]

It’s quite ironic that the only times Ronaldo’s teams lost in such ties have been directly at the hands of Messi.

While the only time Messi’s team won such ties was when he was out with injury (Schalke), and in a final (Juventus) he dominated.

If you look at their K/O stage goals vs “top teams” [PL big 6, LaLiga big 3, Serie A big 3, Bayern + Dortmund, PSG]

- Ronaldo: 37 goals (37/65total goals =56%)
- Messi: 32 goals (32/46total goals =69.5%)

Similar numbers. Most of the difference has come against inferior teams.

Career UCL numbers:
- Ronaldo: 128goals in 169games (0.76 per game)
- Messi: 114goals in 141games (0.81 per game)

Overall a difference of 14 goals. Since Ronaldo has "only" scored 8 UCL goals for Juve, compared to Messi's 14 (same period), that'll likely change.

I'm not trying to undermine Ronaldo here; he's obviously been brilliant throughout his UCL career. But the point is - so has Messi.

The narrative regarding their UCL exploits completely ignores all context, and reeks of recency bias.

They've both been remarkable.