For someone who has taken part in a few debate competitions, I always find joy in verbally challenging someone's belief if that said sentiment isn't shared by me. However, there are subjects which shouldn't be debated upon as they lie beyond the scope of any arguments.
Well, well, well… The debate about Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi is perhaps the most never-ending debate of all time. The duo's fans are always on the lookout to make their idol look like the supreme player in comparison.
As of now, the two are locked at 5 Ballon d'Ors each. But still, the debate between them is pointless and here are five reasons why...
#5 Different upbringing
The contrast in the duo resides at root level itself. While there is no doubt that they are two brilliant goalscoring forwards, the way they were groomed to be the player they are today was totally different. Indeed, while Leo Messi arrived at Barcelona at a very young age, the Portuguese had to ply his trade in different clubs.
Messi started his footballing career at Newell Old Boys before Barcelona snapped him up as a 13-year-old. From there, he played in one setup that saw him become not only a first-team member of the Barcelona team, but also one of the greatest players of all time.
The same was not the case with Cristiano Ronaldo. At 13, the Portuguese had already played in three different setups of Andorinha, Nacional and Sporting before making a move to Manchester United at the mere age of 18.
That is four different clubs in his formative years. So, the base of comparison itself is perhaps flawed.
#4 They are different types of players
And then comes the type of players they are. It could be argued that the duo are forwards that score a lot of goals, but a deeper look at the crevices will reveal the slight differences in their style of plays. Actually, ‘slight’ is perhaps an understatement as their tasks on the pitch are quite different.
Yes, both of them have the privilege of overriding their defensive duties. Yes, both Real Madrid and Barcelona have systems that are built based on these two. However, they are still quite different. For starters, Messi is more of a creative-minded midfielder with brilliant scoring abilities while Cristiano is a forward through-and-through.
Messi is often seen operating from the central midfield position, making up plays for Barcelona and Argentina. However, the former Manchester United man always attacks the goal and prefers to be on the end of plays rather than make them.
The diverse mindset of these two itself makes it hard to compare them. Indeed, had Messi not had such brilliant scoring abilities, there wouldn’t have been any comparison between the two as one would be an attacking midfielder and the other one would be a forward.
#3 They are both legends
The internet is littered by opinions of the two fanbases, screaming the superiority of one over the other. The truth, however, is that both of them are legends and comparing the two is only an insult to the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have countless accolades. Both are the captains of their respective national team and both have won a multitude of trophies at club level. Actually, it would be better to say that the duo have won everything there is to win at an individual and club level.
However, in international football, La Pulga hasn’t been able to achieve any major silverware - something which often taints his name - and will be looking to change that in the World Cup this year. The same was the case for Cristiano Ronaldo until he won the Euros in 2016 and added an international accolade to his resume.
Nevertheless, international medals or not, it just can’t be denied that the two are the greatest players the sport has witnessed and are beyond comparison.
#2 The debate will just keep raging
And no matter how much you debate about the pair, the fact stated in the previous slider won’t change. As mentioned earlier, fighting over these two only throws dirt over their magnificence. The only thing that debating over them does is adding fuel to fire that sees fans turn against each other.
Football is dubbed as the beautiful game and these little issues somewhat puts a black mark on that beauty. No-one likes to witness fans yelling against each other and throwing angry insults just to prove their point.
And in the end, that doesn’t really happen. Someone who believes that Messi is better will keep believing that even if his logic is countered with proper facts. The same could be said for someone who adores Cristiano Ronaldo.
As a result, it is better to refrain from this pointless debate and…
#1 We should cherish our good fortunes
This is what we should really be doing. Our fathers can claim that they saw Diego Maradona at his brilliant best for Napoli and Argentina. Our grandfathers can brag about witnessing the majestic ability of Pele to make football look like the easiest sport.
However, our generation is the only one that can, without any hesitation, say that they saw two players of the same caliber play simultaneously.
No other generation had two players being levels above the rest as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are. The fact that the duo have dominated the proceedings in the last 10 Ballon d’Or events says a lot about the superiority that they have, thus far, enjoyed over the others.
And we should be glad that we got to witness two players of Maradona and Pele’s calibre at the same time.