How can you justify saying Messi is better than Ronaldo?

[LeMAO]

he’s accomplished more than Messi both domestically and internationally as much as you wanna deny it. Give Ronaldo Messi Argentina team and he has multiple cops America titles and at least 1 World Cup.

Casuals thinking that Argentina midfielders can actually pass a ball, what more give CR7 some crosses....

 

[nyknick]

Basically it's

Messi = Clarence Weatherspoon
Ronaldo = Othella Harrington


Some of the player comparisons in this thread

 

[mr.africa]

ronaldo has done it better at club level (debatable, maybe) and definitely better at international level

pele the goat, but ronaldo is right up there.

 

[mastermind]

crissy put in pain on three continents

Which three continents are those?

 

[010101]

Which three continents are those?

you funny*

 

[Ukbrotha]

They're both obviously incredible. As an individual Messi is the better overall player than CR7 but CR7 is the greatest scorer that has ever lived. But just remember Messi has similar goal numbers with much more assists and playmaking abilities than CR7.

Again though. CR7 has proved himself in more leagues than Messi while messi only won with Barca. CR has done it in 3 of the toughest leagues and also has an international title. So in terms of overall achievements CR has a slight edge.

 

[Drip Bayless]

ronaldo has done it better at club level (debatable, maybe) and definitely better at international level

pele the goat, but ronaldo is right up there.

Messi and Ronaldo are better than Pelé ever was

 

[mr.africa]

Messi and Ronaldo are better than Pelé ever was

3 world cups says otherwise. let's not talk about messi and ronaldo's world cups



having said all that, messi and ronaldo are incredible footballers
pele just happens to be the goat

 

[Drip Bayless]

3 world cups says otherwise. let's not talk about messi and ronaldo's world cups



having said all that, messi and ronaldo are incredible footballers
pele just happens to be the goat

Winning the World Cup doesn’t make you the GOAT
Is Griezemann better than Messi now too? Is Olivier Giroud better than Ronaldo cause he won a WC?
One of those (I think 1962) Pele was injured and Garrincha was the man
He was never even top goalscorer in any of those competitions
Pele was playing with construction workers in Brazil
Never played on top flight clubs in Europe
Some of those games he played Santos was winning 10-0, 11-0, Pele having 5 goals in one game
No defense was played whatsoever
I mean dude even counts friendlies in his goal total
People who say Pelé is the GOAT just do so cause everybody else does
You’ve never even seen him play, all your knowledge of him is from YouTube highlights

 

[LiveFromLondon]

You can’t. Those days are over. He shut up that debate last year. This year is the icing on the cake; and if he wins it with Juventus he is outright the GOAT.

He has won 5 UCL titles whilst being easily the best/most important player on the team; Messi has only won 3, he didn’t play in the 2006 Final which shouldn’t count and wasn’t the most important player in 2009; that was Xavi or Inesita. 2011 and 2015 Messi was the best/most important player. He (Ronaldo) has played back to back UCL finals three times. Messi has never played back to back UCL finals nor has he defended Barcelona’s UCL titles once, while Ronaldo done it twice.

Ronaldo has proved his worth in 3 different leagues. He has an unbelievable record in the UCL, especially big games, scoring outrageous and all types of goals. Seriously, Ronaldo dominating the EPL aged 21/22 and winning the Ballon Dor is criminally underrated aspect; when you had the best Chelsea and Liverpool squad to date when EPL teams were dominating Europe.

Messi’s game is definitely more aesthetic, and softer on the eye and enjoyed more by the purist but Ronaldo’s game is the complete package especially for a forward. There is no need to take numerous touches, hold possession and physically fatigue yourself out when a football match is decided in just a few key moments. Ferguson taught his boy well.

From a skinny ball hog from Portugal to the most complete ruthless footballer we have ever witnessed.

There was hatred in that penalty

Which three continents are those?

 

[mr.africa]

Winning the World Cup doesn’t make you the GOAT
Is Griezemann better than Messi now too? Is Olivier Giroud better than Ronaldo cause he won a WC?
One of those (I think 1962) Pele was injured and Garrincha was the man
He was never even top goalscorer in any of those competitions
Pele was playing with construction workers in Brazil
Never played on top flight clubs in Europe
Some of those games he played Santos was winning 10-0, 11-0, Pele having 5 goals in one game
No defense was played whatsoever
I mean dude even counts friendlies in his goal total
People who say Pelé is the GOAT just do so cause everybody else does
You’ve never even seen him play, all your knowledge of him is from YouTube highlights

and people who proclaim messi/ronaldo Goat are prisoners of the moment.
they are incredible but some of us have been watching soccer for close to 30 years and have done research as well.
i would take zidane , og ronaldo and ronaldhino over those two, let's not even mention pele or maradona
pele was the main player/driving force behind his country winning all those world cups is what makes him GOAT.
he was the main man in what is considered the greatest team the soccer world has ever known.
Pele was playing with construction workers - so a part timer won 3 world cups while the two Goats can't even get one
they really don't make footballers like they use to!!

let's just agree to disagree, cause you won't change my mind and i clearly won't change yours. Peace!!

 

[Drip Bayless]

and people who proclaim messi/ronaldo Goat are prisoners of the moment.
they are incredible but some of us have been watching soccer for close to 30 years and have done research as well.
i would take zidane , og ronaldo and ronaldhino over those two, let's not even mention pele or maradona
pele was the main player/driving force behind his country winning all those world cups is what makes him GOAT.
he was the main man in what is considered the greatest team the soccer world has ever known.
Pele was playing with construction workers - so a part timer won 3 world cups while the two Goats can't even get one
they really don't make footballers like they use to!!

let's just agree to disagree, cause you won't change my mind and i clearly won't change yours. Peace!!

Ok just let me know, is Antoine Griezemann a better player than Lionel Messi? Griezemann is a World Cup winner and Messi isnt

 

[THEREALBRAND]

Winning the World Cup doesn’t make you the GOAT
Is Griezemann better than Messi now too? Is Olivier Giroud better than Ronaldo cause he won a WC?
One of those (I think 1962) Pele was injured and Garrincha was the man
He was never even top goalscorer in any of those competitions
Pele was playing with construction workers in Brazil
Never played on top flight clubs in Europe
Some of those games he played Santos was winning 10-0, 11-0, Pele having 5 goals in one game
No defense was played whatsoever
I mean dude even counts friendlies in his goal total
People who say Pelé is the GOAT just do so cause everybody else does
You’ve never even seen him play, all your knowledge of him is from YouTube highlights

The top flight competition in Brasil at that time was on par or better than European squads. When clubs like Santos, Flamengo, Corinthians, etc. would go on tours in Europe they would outclass their European counterparts, and this is while playing an insanely packed match schedule. And saying Pelé never played for a European club is BS, because the Brazilian government wouldn’t allow him to leave even if he wanted to. He was deemed a national treasure, and they wanted to keep him in Brasil. The only reason he got to play for the Cosmos in NYC is because he was retired from Seleção and on his last legs career wise.

Yes, teams in Brasil did play some poor quality competition. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the elite clubs in Brasil (and South America in general) at that time were the best in the world. There’s a reason Santos won back-to-back Intercontinental Cups in the 60s, while beating Europe’s elite in the process.

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

The top flight competition in Brasil at that time was on par or better than European squads. When clubs like Santos, Flamengo, Corinthians, etc. would go on tours in Europe they would outclass their European counterparts, and this is while playing an insanely packed match schedule. And saying Pelé never played for a European club is BS, because the Brazilian government wouldn’t allow him to leave even if he wanted to. He was deemed a national treasure, and they wanted to keep him in Brasil. The only reason he got to play for the Cosmos in NYC is because he was retired from Seleção and on his last legs career wise.

Yes, teams in Brasil did play some poor quality competition. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the elite clubs in Brasil (and South America in general) at that time were the best in the world. There’s a reason Santos won back-to-back Intercontinental Cups in the 60s, while beating Europe’s elite in the process.

It's only really the Bosman ruling and more European Passports being given to South American players in late 90/early 00's that made the SA leagues weaker. Players started leaving SA earlier than they usually did previous generations.

In the history of the Intercontinental cup, Argentina, Brasil and Uruguay, have more wins then the rest of Europe combined.

The World Cup was literally the only time you got to see the great SA players who played domestic football. Otherwise it was hope your country was on their summer tour list.

 

[Drip Bayless]

The top flight competition in Brasil at that time was on par or better than European squads. When clubs like Santos, Flamengo, Corinthians, etc. would go on tours in Europe they would outclass their European counterparts, and this is while playing an insanely packed match schedule. And saying Pelé never played for a European club is BS, because the Brazilian government wouldn’t allow him to leave even if he wanted to. He was deemed a national treasure, and they wanted to keep him in Brasil. The only reason he got to play for the Cosmos in NYC is because he was retired from Seleção and on his last legs career wise.

Yes, teams in Brasil did play some poor quality competition. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the elite clubs in Brasil (and South America in general) at that time were the best in the world. There’s a reason Santos won back-to-back Intercontinental Cups in the 60s, while beating Europe’s elite in the process.

When I was talking about construction workers I was referring to his club competition, mf was playing "Juventus"
Not the Juventus in Italy though, Brazilian lower division teams that just took names of top European clubs.
And none of that changes the fact that he played in an era where defense basically didn't even exist, and he was never the best player in any of the World Cups he won, in some he wasn't even the best on his team!
Dude was probably the greatest of his time, but his legacy has been mythologized on some Paul Bunion shyt
Because a bunch of legends were overly nostalgic everybody considers it law that he was the GOAT, so much so that they say that shyt without ever having seen him play