7 reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo will not finish as Serie A's top goalscorer

#1 The Messi factor

Ronaldo and Messi motivated each other

Over the course of the last nine seasons, football fans witnessed one of the most epic rivalries not just in sporting terms, but across any other field anywhere in the world.

Ronaldo arrived at Real Madrid in 2009, in direct competition with Lionel Messi at Barcelona, and what transpired over the next nine seasons was absolutely the stuff of legend.

The fact that the two greatest players of their generation played for the two biggest clubs in the same league at the same time was absolutely beautiful, and football as a whole benefited from this.

The two are significantly ahead of the peers when it comes to performance levels, and they engaged in a two-way battle to determine who the better player is, constantly upping the ante, and trying to outdo the other.

Both Messi and Ronaldo have admitted that their competition with one another motivated them, as neither wanted to be left behind the other in the decision of the individual awards.

With Ronaldo's departure from La Liga, some source of motivation must have left him, as, despite his legendary self-motivation, his competition with Messi always pushed him to go that extra edge.

With all due respect to the Serie A players, but none of them is anywhere near the level of Messi, hence there is no one in the league to push him to break his limits.

With the absence of Messi as a direct rival, and a reduction in motivation, the drive for Ronaldo to go all out for goals in Serie A is bound to take a hit and would affect his quest to become Serie A Golden Boot winner negatively.