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Since the 08/09 season, 12.71% of Lionel Messi’s league goals have come via the penalty spot (52 penalties/409 total league goals).
In that same timeframe, 21.18% of Cristiano Ronaldo’s league goals have come via the penalty spot (79 penalties/373 total league goals).
In that same timeframe, 21.18% of Cristiano Ronaldo’s league goals have come via the penalty spot (79 penalties/373 total league goals).
So not only has Messi scored more league goals in that timeframe, but he has scored 27 less penalty goals than Cristiano. And let’s not even get into overall quality of the goals.....
Since the 08/09 season, 10.58% of Lionel Messi’s UCL goals have come via the penalty spot (11 penalties/104 total UCL goals).
In that same timeframe, 12.82% of Cristiano Ronaldo’s UCL goals have come via the penalty spot (15 penalties/117 total UCL goals).
In that same timeframe, 12.82% of Cristiano Ronaldo’s UCL goals have come via the penalty spot (15 penalties/117 total UCL goals).
So, Cristiano has more UCL goals in this timeframe, but the percentage of goals that have come from the penalty spot is still higher than Messi’s.
When combining league goals + UCL goals since the 08/09 season, 12.28% of Lionel Messi’s goals have come via the penalty spot (63 penalties/513 total goals).
In that same timeframe, 19.18% of Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals have come via the penalty spot (94 penalties/490 total goals)
In that same timeframe, 19.18% of Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals have come via the penalty spot (94 penalties/490 total goals)
This means that nearly 1 out of every 5 goals that Cristiano Ronaldo has scored in the league + UCL since the 08/09 season has come from the penalty spot 
. He’s scored 31 more penalty goals than Messi, but Messi still has outscored him in overall goals (513 vs 490).
. He’s scored 31 more penalty goals than Messi, but Messi still has outscored him in overall goals (513 vs 490).
Excluding penalty goals since the 08/09 season, Messi has scored 450 league + UCL goals, while Cristiano has scored 396 league + UCL goals.
As mentioned before, Messi has outscored Cristiano even if you include penalties, but the gap is much larger if you exclude them.
Non-penalty league goals since 08/09 (Messi/Cristiano):
08/09: 20/14
09/10: 33/22
10/11: 27/32
11/12: 40/34
12/13: 42/28
13/14: 22/25
14/15: 38/38
15/16: 23/29
16/17: 31/19
17/18: 32/23
18/19: 32/16
19/20: 17/14*
*ongoing
08/09: 20/14
09/10: 33/22
10/11: 27/32
11/12: 40/34
12/13: 42/28
13/14: 22/25
14/15: 38/38
15/16: 23/29
16/17: 31/19
17/18: 32/23
18/19: 32/16
19/20: 17/14*
*ongoing
Using the above criteria, Messi scored more non-penalty league goals in 7 of the 11 completed seasons, while Cristiano scored more in 3 of the 11 seasons. They scored the same amount of non-penalty league goals on 1 occasion.
League penalty goals since 08/09 (Messi/Cristiano):
08/09: 3/4
09/10: 1/4
10/11: 4/8
11/12: 10/12
12/13: 4/6
13/14: 6/6
14/15: 5/10
15/16: 3/6
16/17: 6/6
17/18: 2/3
18/19: 4/5
19/20: 4/9*
*ongoing
08/09: 3/4
09/10: 1/4
10/11: 4/8
11/12: 10/12
12/13: 4/6
13/14: 6/6
14/15: 5/10
15/16: 3/6
16/17: 6/6
17/18: 2/3
18/19: 4/5
19/20: 4/9*
*ongoing
Using the above criteria, Cristiano scored more penalty league goals in 9 of the 11 completed seasons, while Messi NEVER scored more. They scored the same amount of penalty league goals on 2 occasions.
Now, let’s total those up to get total league goals since 08/09 (Messi/Cristiano):
08/09: 23/18
09/10: 34/26
10/11: 31/40
11/12: 50/46
12/13: 46/34
13/14: 28/31
14/15: 43/48
15/16: 26/35
16/17: 37/25
17/18: 34/26
18/19: 36/21
19/20: 21/23*
*ongoing
08/09: 23/18
09/10: 34/26
10/11: 31/40
11/12: 50/46
12/13: 46/34
13/14: 28/31
14/15: 43/48
15/16: 26/35
16/17: 37/25
17/18: 34/26
18/19: 36/21
19/20: 21/23*
*ongoing
Using the above criteria, Messi scored more total league goals in 7 of the 11 completed seasons, while Cristiano scored more in 4 of the 11 seasons. Cristiano has scored far more penalties but Messi still has outscored him in overall goals regardless.
These are pretty stunning numbers in this thread and analyzing the goals in this manner really outlines how penalty goals have drastically inflated Ronaldo’s numbers. Goals are the only “on paper” statistic where Ronaldo can compare with Messi, yet Messi is still far superior.
