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Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been outdoing each other consistently since they broke out onto the scene more than a decade ago. Over the course of that time, the two have established themselves among the greatest ever to play the game and their relentless duel has made the world of football extremely interesting. Each have reached near God-like status amongst their fans and the debate of who is the greatest has divided people more than football has united them.
The list of records that Messi and Ronaldo have broken are endless and it would seem that there is nothing more in the world for them to achieve. However, there are a few European Club records that are still intact, untouched by the record smashing duo. While it is highly unlikely that these would have stayed unconquered by the time Messi and Ronaldo retire, we look at five of those records that neither Messi, nor Ronaldo have managed to break yet.
Note: All stats are courtesy of www.uefa.com
#5 Goals in European Cup Finals
While Messi and Ronaldo are far ahead of the pack in terms of the goals scored in UEFA Champions League – Messi has 103, while Ronaldo has 123 -- when it comes to goals in the European Cup Finals, they are a little behind. Lionel Messi has two Champions League final goals, one each in 2009 and 2011, while Ronaldo has four goals (one each in 2008 and 2014 and a brace in 2017). Messi has appeared in the finals four times, while Ronaldo has made it to the finals six times. They have a total of nine Champions League trophies among them, with Messi having four and Ronaldo five.
However, the leaders are a little ahead of these two. Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas still have their record intact, as both of them have scored seven goals in European Cup Finals.
Alfredo Di Stefano has also scored goals in most European Cup Finals. He scored in five finals for Real Madrid in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960.
The legendary Ferenc Puskas scored four goals in the 1960 European Cup Finals for Real Madrid and his record – the most goals in a single European Cup Final -- is still intact. Ronaldo, with his brace scored in the 2017 final, is the one who has come closest in recent times.
These records have been around for a long time now, as legendary as the people who created them, however, Messi and Ronaldo are perhaps the only two players in recent times who have come close to breaking at least a couple of them. Whether they manage to do it before hanging up their boots remains to be seen.
#4 Most Appearances in UEFA Competitions
Iker Casillas, currently at Porto, has the all time leading appearances in UEFA Club Competitions, with 178 appearances. Ronaldo has 161 appearances in total, while Messi is trailing at 129 appearances. Ronaldo is actually joint 6th in the list of all time appearances, while Messi is (surprise, surprise) joint 35th in the all-time UEFA Club Competitions appearances.
In Champions League, however, Ronaldo has the second most appearances – 157, while Messi on 125 is joint 12th. Casillas is still a little ahead of those two with 171 appearances. With Porto appearing in the Champions League this season, it is impossible for Ronaldo to match up to Casillas by this year, so the records shall remain intact for another season, at least. Ahead of that though, there isn't much guarantee.
#3 Goals in most seasons
Raul Gonzalez scored in 14 consecutive UEFA Champions League seasons, setting a record that still stands today. Ryan Giggs of Manchester United, scored in the most UEFA Champions League seasons in total, when he scored in 16 seasons.
Ronaldo has scored in 12 consecutive seasons so far and has scored in 12 seasons in total. As such, he will need to score in 2 more seasons to equal Raul’s record. Also, he might have to play for at least 4 more seasons to equal Gigg’s stunning record. However, it is quite likely that the records will already be broken by the time he gets there.
Messi has scored in 13 consecutive UEFA Champions League seasons for Barcelona and has scored in 13 seasons in total. If he scores in the 2018/19 season, he will equal Raul’s record. He will also need to score in at least 3 more seasons, including this one, to equal Gigg’s record.
While neither of these records will be broken this season, it is quite possible that in the 2019/20 season, one of them would be broken.
#2 Goals in a single season
Radamel Falcao scored 18 goals in the 2010/11 season for Porto in the Europa League and to this date, that remains the highest number of goals scored by a player in a single season. Falcao scored a single goal in the qualifying stages and 17 goals in the main competition.
In Messi’s best season, he scored 14 goals in the 2011/12 Champions League season. Ronaldo has the current record in the Champions League, when he scored 17 goals in the 2013/14 season.
While you cannot rule out another fantastic goalscoring season from either of those two, it would take some out of the world effort to break Falcao’s record. Impossible? No, not when you consider what these two have achieved, but hard, pretty hard.
#1 Goals per Game
Messi and Ronaldo might have scored loads of goals in the Champions League, but when it comes to goals per game ratio, there was someone even better than these two.
Gerd Muller set an incredible record of 0.97 goals per game in European Cup/Champions League and 0.87 goals per game in UEFA Club Competition. Both of these records are still unbroken and looks set to remain so.
Ronaldo has an average of 0.77 goals per game – he has scored 121 goals in 157 appearances, in the Champions League. In all UEFA Club Competitions, his average is 0.76 – 123 goals in 161 appearances.
Messi is a little better than him, he has scored 100 goals in 125 games in the Champions League, at an average of 0.8, while in all UEFA Club Competitions, he has scored 103 goals in 129 games, at an average of 0.82 goals per game.
Messi would have to score consecutive hattricks in his next 11 games and Ronaldo would need consecutive hattricks in his next 16 games to even touch Muller. As such, this is one record which seems unassailable even for these two.
