Too for for Messi To think about The Goat

Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi - who is the GOAT? It is the biggest conundrum in football since
the 'Diego Maradona or Pele?' debate.

The question of who is better between the Portuguese phenomenon and the empyrean Argentine has
dominated the minds of football fans everywhere for the past decade and will persist into the future.
Club and national loyalties can cloud judgement on the matter, while personalities also play a part in how
good a player is perceived to be, and most people know who they'd pick.
So who really is the greatest of all time? Never mind who you prefer, GOAL has taken a look at how the pair
actually shape up head-to-head so you can be fully armed with facts in the eternal argument.
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On this page
. Club goals
. Club assists
. Champions League
. World Cup
. International
. Titles
. Individual awards

Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi: Club goals

Cristiano Ronaldo Season Lionel Messi

5 2002-03 -
7
6
6 2003-04 -
5
4
9 2004-05 1
3
2
12 2005-06 8
1
23 2006-07 17
42 2007-08 16
26 2008-09 38
33 2009-10 47
53 2010-11 53
60 2011-12 73
55 2012-13 60
51 2013-14 41
 61 2014-15 58
51 2015-16 41
42 2016-17 54
44 2017-18 45
28 2018-19 51
37 2019-20 31
36 2020-21 38
24 2021-22 11
17 2022-23 21
17 2023-24/2023 11
732 Total 715
Ronaldo has scored more club goals than Messi, but only just and it should be noted that the Manchester
United star benefits from having played two more seasons than his Argentine nemesis thus far.
Each of them has remarkably netted over 690 club goals in their career so far, with the five seasons between
2009-10 and 2014-15 proving particularly golden as they pushed each other to greater heights.
While Ronaldo currently has more goals overall, Messi has the edge in the scoring department, with a higher
season average (37.9 to 35), having hit a high of 73 goals in 2011-12, though his average dropped after a
disappointing maiden campaign at PSG in 2021-22.
Ronaldo's highest season return was 61, which he achieved in 2014-15, and he surpassed the 50-goal mark
every season for six years between 2010-11 and 2015-16.
Interestingly, while Ronaldo's seasonal totals have declined somewhat in recent years - he failed to break
the 30-goal mark in 2018-19 during his first season at Juventus - Messi's have remained consistent, though
the Argentine's rate slowed after joining PSG.