5 Lionel Messi records Cristiano Ronaldo will never break 

Lionel Messi won four Ballons d'Or in a row between 2009 and 2012
Lionel Messi won four Ballons d'Or in a row between 2009 and 2012

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been locked in a mythical rivalry for over a decade now.

Whilst the pair unquestionably stand alone above the rest of the footballing world, the debate over who is ultimately the greater player between the two of them still remains unsettled.

Although the arguments used in this entertaining, often heated, debate are multifaceted, one of the primary sources of evidence used by fans, footballers, and pundits, to determine which one is better is the records that each of them holds.

Both Messi and Ronaldo seemingly set records every time one of them touches a football, and whilst they have competed for similar records over the years, there are some instances where one of them has achieved something that seems impossible for the other to do.

This article is going to look at five records that Messi possesses that are seemingly impossible for Ronaldo to eclipse.

#5 Winning 4 Ballons d'Or in a row

Between 2008 and 2017 Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo won five Ballons d'Or between them, in a period of unprecedented dominance.

Although they both currently sit at five apiece, there is a record related to the award that Messi possesses which Ronaldo does not.

Four of the five Ballon d'Or awards that Messi won came between 2009 and 2012, setting a record in the process for most consecutive Ballons d'Or won by a player.

Ronaldo has 'only' managed to win the award in streaks of two (in 2013-14 and 2016-17) and whilst it looked possible he could get three in a row in 2018, Luka Modric controversially won the award this time around.

With age finally starting to catch up with the two players, there is uncertainty over how much longer they will both stay at the pinnacle of world football, and because of that it seems virtually impossible that Ronaldo will equal this record set by Messi.

#4 Scoring 91 goals in a calendar year

In 2012 Messi broke Gerd Muller's goals scoring record by scoring 91 goals in a calendar year.
In 2012 Messi broke Gerd Muller's goals scoring record by scoring 91 goals in a calendar year.

Heralded as perhaps Lionel Messi's greatest ever achievement, in 2012 he managed to score 91 goals over the course of 12 months.

The Argentine Maestro managed to break Gerd Muller's decades-old record of 85 by a total of 6 goals.

This record arguably represents Messi at his peak and also Barcelona's peak, with many regarding the latter as the greatest team of all time.

Although Cristiano Ronaldo is a goal-scoring machine, he has never managed to score these many goals in a calendar year, even at the peak of his powers.

With Ronaldo failing to score 50 goals for the first time in years in 2018, it seems highly unlikely that he will be able to get close to Messi's total of 91.

Therefore, it seems that this record will never be broken by Ronaldo.

#3 Scoring 50 goals in a single LaLiga season

In the 2011/12 season, Messi managed to score 50 goals in 37 games
In the 2011/12 season, Messi managed to score 50 goals in 37 games

During the 2011/12 LaLiga season, Lionel Messi set a new record by scoring the most goals in a single season in the Spanish top flight.

Breaking the record of 40 set the previous season by none other than Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi's total of 50 still remains a record.

Ronaldo has been close, however, with the former Real Madrid player scoring 48 goals in the 2014/15 season, and although his goal to game ratio was, in fact, better than Messi in 2011/12 he still fell two goals short.

Now that Ronaldo has departed to Italian pastures, it seems all but certain that he will never break Messi's record of 50 LaLiga goals in a season.

This is one of Messi's best records that firmly cements his legacy in Spanish football.

#2 150 LaLiga Assists

During the 2018/19 season, Messi became the first player in history to register 150 assists in LaLiga
During the 2018/19 season, Messi became the first player in history to register 150 assists in LaLiga

As well as being a prolific goal scorer, Lionel Messi is also one of the best supporting players in the world.

This was evidenced at the start of the 2018/19 season when the Argentine became the first player to hit 150 assists in LaLiga since this stat was measured in the 1990s.

It could be argued that Messi has had better attacking teammates than Ronaldo, with the Argentine consistently having the very best attackers playing next to him, including Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Luis Suarez, Samuel Eto'o, and Neymar.

Nevertheless, Messi's record of 150 LaLiga assists is one Ronaldo will never break.

#1 400 league goals at a single club

Messi has scored 405 league goals for FC Barcelona since 2004
Messi has scored 405 league goals for FC Barcelona since 2004

Since making his LaLiga debut in 2004, Lionel Messi has gone on to become the top goalscorer in the competition's history.

His record of 405 goals in the Spanish top flight is a clear record, with his closest rival being Cristiano Ronaldo on 311 goals.

Whilst it's a lovely record for Messi, it is perhaps more of a testament to the fact that Ronaldo has spent his career testing himself in multiple leagues as opposed to just one.

Although Ronaldo managed an unprecedented feat of scoring over a goal a game in his ten-year stint in Spain, a feat Messi hasn't managed, his departure to the Serie A has all but sealed this record for Messi.

In addition, with the Barcelona man being 'just' 95 goals short of 500 goals, it wouldn't be impossible for him to reach that milestone in the next few years!

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Edited by Arvind Sriram