Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi: Who has better stats when they play each other? | OneFootball

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are set for what could well be their final ever head-to-head clash on a football pitch this week.

Ever since Ronaldo waved goodbye to La Liga and left Real Madrid in 2018, the opportunities to see the five-time Ballon d’Or winner lock horns with his eternal rival have been few and far between.

In fact, the only time that the two GOAT contenders have met on a pitch in the last five years was when Juventus drew Barcelona in the 2020/21 Champions League group stages.

Will Messi and Ronaldo play each other again?

And with Ronaldo unable to participate during the first meeting at the Allianz Stadium, a clash of the titans at Camp Nou on December 8, 2020, proved to be the latest battle between the pair.

However, despite Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr looking to scupper any hopes of a 37th and final encounter, a remarkable twist of fate means they are on course to dance the dance one more time.

The ultimate Messi vs Ronaldo quiz

According to Reuters, Ronaldo will lead out Riyadh ST XI – a team comprised of players from Al Hilal and Al Nassr – for an exhibition match against Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday.

Assuming that common sense ensures that Messi and Ronaldo therefore share the pitch at some stage, we could well see the final meeting between arguably the two greatest male players in history unfold before our eyes this week.

It will, of course, mark a major opportunity for both players to end their head-to-head rivalry with the last laugh, putting an emphatic full stop on the end of their 37 matches against each other.

Messi vs Ronaldo: Who has better stats when they play each other?

And when you look at the fascinating statistics of both players in games where they’ve both shared the pitch, the gravity of this week’s potential reunion couldn’t be any clearer.

Calling upon the in-depth resources over at messivsronaldo.app, we’ve been able to take a look at which player out of Ronaldo and Messi has performed the best when they’ve been staring at each other from opposite ends of the pitch.

Who comes out on top when the Ronaldo vs Messi debate literally becomes Messi vs Ronaldo over 90 minutes of football?

Well, fear not, because we found out the answers ahead of what will surely be a historic footballing moment this week, so be sure to check out who got the upper hand for yourselves down below:

Assists: Messi 12-1 Ronaldo

Goals per game: Messi 0.61-0.58 Ronaldo

Minutes per goal: Messi 142.7-143.0 Ronaldo

Minutes per goal contribution: Messi 92.4-136.5 Ronaldo

Hat-tricks: Messi 1-0 Ronaldo

Free-kick goals: Messi 2-0 Ronaldo

Penalty goals: Messi 7-6 Ronaldo

Headed goals: Ronaldo 2-1 Messi

Messi vs Ronaldo: Who won?

So, look, the moral of the story is that Messi has a better individual set of statistics when it comes to direct clashes against Ronaldo, but boy is it close.

Yes, Messi has more assists, more hat-tricks, more free-kick goals, more headed goals and just as many weak-footed goals, but that key metric of overall goals is nail-bitingly tight.

It’s crazy to think that after 36 games, many of which were between Barcelona and Real Madrid, that Ronaldo and Messi find themselves separated by just a single strike.

In fact, astonishingly, there’s just 18 seconds of difference in their minutes per goal rate.

If that doesn’t add extra needle to their potential clash this week then we don’t know what will, because whether or not either or both of them finds the back of the net could well decide how their head-to-head record looks for the rest of time.

Two goals from Ronaldo and the history books could read very differently.