re: RONALDO appreciation thread!

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Ronaldo is better than Messi right now in my opinion, not to say Messi couldn’t pass him up, but he’s won 3 of last 4 champions leagues and went back to back... he also has won Euro Cup (widely considered 2nd hardest international tourney), yes Messi did go to World Cup final but he failed to score a single goal in knockout stage. Finally ronaldo also won a champions league at Man U (the last one they ever won I might add) so he has shown he can get it done no matter where he is.

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Ascribing team accomplishments to individual players is ridiculous. I mean, if you are going to criticize Messi for not scoring during the knockout stages, why would you give credit to Ronaldo for winning the Euros when he was injured early in the game against France and left the game? Messi had 4 goals in WC 2014, and played rather brilliantly that WC on an injury, and Argentina's loss against Germany shouldn't be held against him. I mean, if Gignac buries that chance he had at the edge of the six in the 90th minute, would we blame Ronaldo for that?

Messi is by far the more versatile player. Messi is the better dribbler, has superb vision, and is the focal point of the attack. Ronaldo is superb at timing his runs, heading, and getting upfield quickly, but he could never pull the strings like Messi does.

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and finally Ronaldo has more goals than games played at Real Madrid, Messi does not have more goals than games played at Barcelona

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This is a bit dishonest. Firstly Messi had around 100 games for Barcelona while he was still a teenager, and was in the developmental stage. His first glimpses of domination came at the end of the 2007 season, when he returned from a foot fracture and had 11 goals in his last 13 games. The next season he lead the line as a 20 year old, although he only contributed 10 goals. If we are going to be fair, should we hold Ronaldo's developmental years against him too? Using your logic you are holding Messi staying at one club against him.

Since Ronaldo's arrived at Real, he's scored 296 league goals in 283 games. Messi has scored 315 goals in 296 games. Messi's goal per game ratio is marginally better. Also it's not like Barcelona's last CL win was ancient history. It was only in 2015. He's won La Liga 5 times since Ronaldo arrived, the CL 2 times, and the Ballon d'Or five times. I see him as the better player because he's the focal point of the attack while Ronaldo requires excellent service on top of his ability to create his own goals.