6 players who stopped both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi

Sergio Ramos vs Lionel Messi

Messi endured a drought in El Clasicos and it was because of Ramos

Lionel Messi made all the headlines for his heroic double in the El Clasico in 2017 – including a last second winner – which kept the Catalan giants in the title race, somehow. They went on to lose the title to Real Madrid on the final day of the season finishing three points behind their arch-rivals.

However, the game helped Messi end a goal drought in El Clasicos, having not scored in the last six of them, three of which were won by the Santiago Bernabeu outfit. Not only in these six, but countless other ones in which Messi has not scored, it has been down to some brilliant defending by Sergio Ramos – the one constant in Real Madrid’s defence.

Whether Messi operated in the hole, or in the false nine position, or on the right wing, the Spanish defender ensured that he did not afford the time and space for Messi to wreck havoc.

While Barcelona have a much better head-to-head record than Real Madrid since Messi’s debut, whenever the Argentine star has been subdued or stopped from scoring, Ramos has played a pivotal role, be it with his intelligent man-marking, his robust tackling or a combination of both.