Bernabeu on Sunday, two of the best players the
game has ever seen will be looking to lead their
respective teams to victory.
Cristiano Ronaldo is without doubt Madrid's go-to
guy when it matters most, while Lionel Messi has
developed into the Catalans' undisputed star man
since making his senior debut in 2004-05.
The two have dominated the sport like no others
before them, winning nine Ballons d'Or
between them since 2008. Who is the better player
of the two, though?
Fans of the Argentine will point to his five Ballon
d'Or awards and his numerous trophies with
Barcelona.
Those in favour of the Portuguese will highlight the
fact he has not only done it in LaLiga with Madrid,
but has also enjoyed success with Manchester
United in the Premier League and led his national
team to their first major trophy.
It is probably fair to say, however, that there is no
definite answer to the question as to which of the
two is the standout star.
That being said, a look at their statistics over the
course of the 2016-17 campaign gives a good
indication as to who is in better shape heading into
this weekend's Clasico.
Crunching the numbers
Games: Ronaldo 38 Messi 45
Goals: Ronaldo 31 Messi 45
Goals per game: Ronaldo 0.82 Messi 1
Total shots: Ronaldo 220 Messi 160
Shots per game: Ronaldo 5.79 Messi 3.55
Shots on target: Ronaldo 80 Messi 85
Shots on target per game: Ronaldo 2.11 Messi
1.88
Percentage of shots on target: Ronaldo 36.4 Messi
53.1
Assists: Ronaldo 11 Messi 14
Assists per game: Ronaldo 0.29 Messi 0.31
The first stat that immediately catches the
attention is the fact that Messi is outscoring
Ronaldo by 14 goals. Whereas the Madrid star beat
his Barcelona rival by 51 to 41 goals over 2015-16,
he has been unable to keep up with the 29-year-
old this season for now.
That is partially down to the fact that Messi has
clearly stepped up his game a notch when it comes
to goals, but also also showcases Ronaldo's
decline in front of goal, regardless of his hat-trick
in Tuesday's heroic Champions League win over
Bayern Munich. Now, one should not ignore the fact
that Messi has played more matches than Ronaldo,
but his goals-to-game ratio still puts him well
ahead of the Portugal international – and that's in
spite of him drawing a blank against Juventus this
week.
Ronaldo's deficit is not for a lack of trying,
however, as the 32-year-old goes for goal much
more often than Messi, notching up over two shots
per game more than the Barcelona man. But
whereas Ronaldo gets just 36 per cent of his shots
on target, Messi directs over half of his attempts
goalwards.
When it comes to assists, the gap might not be as
significant as with goals, but Messi leads the way
in this area of the game, too, creating three more
goals than Ronaldo, although this can largely be
explained by the difference in games played.
The Clasico is an entirely different matter than any
other game, though, so it is worth looking at the
stats from meetings between both arch-rivals to
see what we can expect from Messi and Ronaldo at
the weekend.
Clasico figures
Games: Ronaldo 26 Messi 33
Goals: Ronaldo 16 Messi 21
Goals per game: Ronaldo 0.61 Messi 0.64
Total shots: Ronaldo 121 Messi 118
Shots per game: Ronaldo 4.65 Messi 3.57
Shots on target: Ronaldo 52 Messi 52
Shots on target per game: Ronaldo 2 Messi 1.57
Percentage of shots on target: Ronaldo 43.0 Messi
44.1
Assists: Ronaldo 1 Messi 13
Assists per game: Ronaldo 0.03 Messi 0.40
Again, Messi holds the edge over Ronaldo when it
comes to goals, with the Argentine being the all-
time top goalscorer in the Clasico with 21 strikes.
But the difference in goals can be easily explained
by the amount of games played by each forward,
with there being just a minor gap of 0.03 when we
look at their goals-per-game ratios.
And Ronaldo is once more the most trigger-happy
in front of goal of the two, although his Clasico
figure is considerably lower than he has been
averaging this term, which is hardly a surprise
when you bear in mind Barcelona are among
Madrid's strongest opponents.
The most remarkable stat, however, is the big
difference in assists between both stars. Whereas
Messi has set up 13 goals throughout his Clasico
career, an average of 0.40 per game, Ronaldo has
created just one goal in 26 matches against
Barcelona.
The conclusion to be drawn based on those figures
is that Messi has not only been the most decisive
of the duo in front of goal this season, but has also
played a bigger role in the Clasico over the past
decade or so.
It is now up to Ronaldo to prove the stats wrong
and guide Madrid to victory, thus handing them a
potentially decisive lead in LaLiga.
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