[Thread] Just had an argument with a guy who claimed that Ronaldo would have scored 1000+ goals had he started his career in La Liga like Messi so I've decided to make this thread to debunk the myth that CR7 would have scored far more goals had he started his career in Spain:

First of all, Ronaldo scored less than 27 goals in his first season in La Liga and less than 27 goals in his final 2 seasons at RM too. Ronaldo left United at the age of 24 and the majority of football players reach their peak at the age of 26.

The fact that he put up better numbers at Utd than he did in his 1st season & his last 2 seasons in Spain would suggest that his goalscoring numbers increased due to him reaching his peak shortly after joining RM and not because it’s easier to score for RM than it is for Man Utd

Proof that his goalscoring record mainly improved at RM because he peaked as a goalscorer? Just look at his stats for Portugal. Between 2003-2009, CR7 scored 22 goals in 63 games for Portugal (0.35 goals/game). Between 2009-2018, he scored 63 goals in 86 games (0.73 goals/game).

Moreover, here is a comparison between Messi & Ronaldo’s stats in La Liga between 2009-2018. Also, if you compare their stats in the UCL in which they both started playing around the same age (17-18), you would find that Messi has a ratio of 0.81 goals/game; CR7 = 0.76 goals/game

Another factor that people are not taking into account is the fact that SAF helped Ronaldo develop a lot early on in his career and that without him (if CR7 began his career in Spain), we may have never seen the best version of Ronaldo or that sort of consistency from him.

CR7 played as a wide-mid at Utd, which is pretty much the same as a winger + he played in the same area on the pitch as Messi in his early days (maybe more advanced than him too). Ronaldo himself has said that he played as a winger at Man Utd. https://twitter.com/guy_biscuit/status/1262496327931478016

Further proof that CR7 played in a more advanced position (had more scoring opportunities)is the fact that he only scored 2 goals in which he worked his way into the box between 05-07; Messi scored 10 gls working his way into the box from 06-08. Gls outside the box: CR7 4-2 Messi

https://www.sportbible.com/football/legends-ole-solskjaer-reveals-what-fergie-let-cristiano-ronaldo-get-away-with-20181107 Olé have said that CR7 helping out with defensive duties by SAF 2-3 seasons after joining United and let's pretend like CR7 was a proper mid at Utd like some are saying (which he wasn't)...doesn't that mean that he should have more assists than Messi then?

Aguero, Torres, Sanchez, Jimenez, Michu, etc. tore up the PL, while plenty of PL stars failed to replicate their PL successes in Spain such as Beckham, McManaman, Coutinho, Owen,etc. so performing well in a certain league is dependent on the player, not the league. End of thread