5 Records shared by Messi and Ronaldo you didn't know about

#1 Only players in La Liga history to score more than 300 goals

When Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009, Lionel Messi was already on the rise in La Liga. The Portuguese, a phenomenal goal scorer himself, soon made matters interesting as the Real Madrid vs Barcelona debate was spiced up by the Ronaldo vs Messi debate. These two started their own internal battle almost immediately, with Messi ending the 2009/10 season as the top scorer in the La Liga, with 34 goals from 35 games.

However, Ronaldo responded next year, taking the top scorer title by virtue of 40 goals in 34 games, declaring war that would rage in the La Liga for almost a decade. Messi ended the next two seasons as top scorer, scoring a record 50 goals and 46 goals respectively. But Ronaldo was not done yet. He secured top spot in 2013/14 season, scoring 31 goals and then again in the following season, scoring 48 goals in the league.

Suarez gave them a brief respite in the 2015/16 season, but Messi won the next two, including last season, scoring 34 goals. But even in the battle, there is a unique record that binds these two together. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the only two players in the history of La Liga to score more than 300 goals. The Portuguese has scored 311 times in 292 appearances, while Messi has 390 goals from 427 appearances so far. Looks like there's much more common between these two than meets the eye, right?

What are the other records that should have been included in the list? Let us know in the comments.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven years at Sportskeeda. He has written more than 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 20 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Sripad