Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo are unarguably two of the greatest footballers to play the game.
Having entertained the football world for over a decade-and-a-half, they have bagged almost all the individual honours the game offers.
Currently, the former Los Blancos star Ronaldo is enjoying his time with Italian Champions Juventus while Messi, who expressed his desire to leave Barca before the start of the season, has endured a rather underwhelming year with his beloved Catalans, considering his staggering standards.
Sputnik looks at who had a better 2020- Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi:
Despite entering their last few years of football, Ronaldo and Messi have not shown any signs of slowing down. However, the Portugese captain enjoyed more success this year compared to his Argentine counterpart.
Scoring More Goals
The Juve star was on a goal scoring spree throughout the year, almost averaging a goal per game for club and country. Ronaldo scored 44 goals in 45 games in all competitions, while also becoming the first European player to score 100 international goals.
Meanwhile, Messi played 47 games in 2020 but scored far fewer goals (27) in all competitions. His scoring ratio was only 0.57 goals per game.
Trophy-Less Year for Messi
Ronaldo's goal scoring form in the Serie A helped Juventus win their ninth consecutive Scudetto. The Juve star, despite missing out on the Capocannoniere award, managed to score 31 league goals last season (21 in 2020) helping the Bianconeri extend their domestic dominance.
Meanwhile, Messi broke Xavi's record of most assists in a season. But that was to no avail as Barcelona failed to win a single trophy. They fell short of a La Liga three-peat while they were crushed out of Champions League by Bayern Munich.
Other Stats
In 2020, Ronaldo not only outplayed Messi in league goals but enjoyed more goals at the international level. The Portuguese scored 3 goals for his nation while Messi managed to score only 1.
The world, which considers Messi as a better free kick scorer, saw Ronaldo score more free kicks than him.
The star duo bagged a hat-trick each during this period. The only stat in which Messi was better than Ronaldo was at providing assists.
Last week, football legend Pele had picked Ronaldo as the best player in the world over Lionel Messi. "I think he's the best, because he's more consistent, but you can't forget about (Lionel Messi), of course, but he's not a striker," Pele said.
