Messi might not be able to better these Cristiano Ronaldo records
Two of the greatest footballers of our generation, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not new to making and breaking records. The duo seems to be breaking records every other week. These two prolific goal scorers hold a great number of records in world football right now.
They have won the most number of Ballon d’Or awards (5), scored the most number of hat-tricks in UEFA Champions League (7), won the most number of European Golden Shoe awards (4), are the only players to score 25+ goals in seven consecutive La Liga seasons and have scored in the most number league matches in a single season (27)… the list is nearly never-ending.
Some of the Lionel Messi records are close to impossible for any player to break and the same applies to some of the Cristiano Ronaldo records.
On that note, let’s take a look at the list of Cristiano Ronaldo records that Lionel Messi might not be able to break.
#5 More than 50 goals in six consecutive seasons
Consistency is one of the most important factors that differentiate a world-class player from a good player. The success of Ronaldo is largely due to his consistency.
Ever since his move to the Galacticos in 2009, Ronaldo has managed to score at least 40 goals in each of his La Liga seasons, barring his debut campaign.
He was the fastest player to score 150 and 200 La Liga goals. The Portuguese captain has scored more than 50 goals in 6 consecutive seasons for Real Madrid (from 2010/11 to 2015/16).
Messi so far managed to score 50 goals in 5 season and only three of those came in the consecutive seasons.
Ronaldo season-wise stats (courtesy: www.espnfc.com & www.whoscored.com):
2010/11: 53 goals
2011/12: 60 goals
2012/13: 55 goals
2013/14: 51 goals
2014/15: 61 goals
2015/16: 51 goals
#4 Top scorer in UEFA Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo is a lethal finisher not just in Premier League and La Liga, but also in the UEFA Champions League competition.
He is the only player to score in all group stage matches in a single Champions League season and also the only player to score 15+ goals in the Champions League in a calendar year on three occasions. He is also the only player to score in 8 consecutive Champions League games.
Ronaldo is also the only player to score 100 goals in the UEFA Champions League. As of today, the Portuguese international has scored 114 goals in Champions league, 17 more than Lionel Messi.
Though he is struggling in La Liga, Ronaldo is ruthless in UCL this campaign, scoring 9 times. The Argentine may never be able to catch up with the Portuguese.
According to UEFA, Top 3 UEFA Champions League scorers (excluding qualifying) are:
114: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, Real Madrid)
97: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
71: Raul Gonzalez (Real Madrid, Schalke)
#3 60 goals in 4 consecutive calendar years
This is yet another stat that showcases the consistency of Cristiano Ronaldo. He is the only player in history to score 60 or more goals in a calendar year four times (consecutively from 2011 to 2014).
The Argentine managed to do it only on 2 occasions in his career (2010 and 2012). 2012 was a record-breaking year for Lionel Messi in which he scored 91 goals.
Also, Ronaldo is the only player in history to score 50 or more goals in a calendar year seven times (consecutively from 2011 to 2017).
Though Messi managed to score 50 or more goals in seven calendar years, he only managed to do it four years in a row. He will never be able to achieve the record set by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo yearly stats (courtesy: www.espnfc.com)
2011: 60 goals in 60 appearances
2012: 63 goals in 71 appearances
2013: 69 goals in 59 appearances
2014: 61 goals in 60 appearances
2015: 57 goals in 57 appearances
2016: 55 goals in 57 appearances
2017: 53 goals in 60 appearances
#2 International goals & success
Cristiano Ronaldo has enjoyed a lot of international success compared to Lionel Messi. Ronaldo led Portugal to UEFA European Championship success in 2016 and also to a third-place finish in the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017.
Messi has never won silverware with Argentina. He led Argentina to the finals of 2014 FIFA World Cup where they lost to Germany in the final showdown. In terms of goals for the national team, Ronaldo is leading the way by some distance.
The Portuguese captain has scored 79 goals whereas the Argentine only has 61. 18 goals is a huge difference, considering the number of international games played in a year. But Lionel Messi has time on his side to challenge Cristiano Ronaldo.
#1 Goals-per-game ratio in La Liga (min 250 games)
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi average close to a goal per game. Both are prolific goalscorers and scores almost every other week. What makes them both world-class players is their stunning goals-per-game ratio.
Cristiano Ronaldo has played 279 La Liga games and scored 289 goals whereas Lionel Messi has played 401 La Liga games and scored 366 goals. Messi’s goal-per-game ratio in La Liga is 0.91 whereas Ronaldo’s goal-per-game ratio is 1.04.
Though the difference between their conversion rates is 0.13, it will be nearly impossible for Lionel Messi to better Ronaldo’s record. Contrary to his nature, Ronaldo is having a quiet season in La Liga so far, but expect him to come back hard in the second half of the campaign. What else can you expect from CR7?
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