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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are well into their 30s but they are still going strong. In fact, they are still among the best footballers on the planet and their longevity is simply staggering. Messi just won his seventh Ballon d'Or and Ronaldo is the top goalscorer at Manchester United this season. They might not be as dominant as they used to be in their heydey but they are still more than a handful to deal with in any given game.
The Cristiano Ronaldo - Lionel Messi debate rages on
The question of who is the better player between Ronaldo and Messi is a debate that might not ever get settled. One thing we can do is compare how both players fared in 2021. It's been a great year for football fans with plenty of action taking place at both club and international levels.
Without further ado, let's compare Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's stats from 2021.
#13 Goals [Cristiano Ronaldo - 47, Lionel Messi - 43]
Cristiano Ronaldo managed to outscore Lionel Messi in 2021. In 65 appearances for club and country, the Manchester United man scored a total of 47 goals while Messi scored 43 in 61.
#12 Assists [Cristiano Ronaldo - 6, Lionel Messi - 18]
This is a very important aspect to review. While Ronaldo has managed to evolve into more of a goalscorer after passing his prime, Messi's exemplary playmaking skills have become very useful. Messi outshines Ronaldo in the assists department, racking up 18 assists against Ronaldo's six.
#11 Minutes-per-goal [Cristiano Ronaldo - 116.2, Lionel Messi - 123.1]
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals than Lionel Messi in 2021 and also has a better minutes-per-goal record. Messi played a total of 5,295 minutes this past year as opposed to Ronaldo's 5,347.
#10 Minutes per G/A [Cristiano Ronaldo - 102.8, Lionel Messi 86.8]
Here is another metric where Messi clearly outshines Ronaldo. The Argentinian might not have hit the ground running in Ligue 1 but he still managed to be directly involved in a goal every 86.6 minutes in 2021.
#9 Hat-tricks [Cristiano Ronaldo - 2, Lionel Messi - 1]
Ronaldo managed to score two hat-tricks in 2021. He first scored a perfect hat-trick for Juventus against Cagliari in Serie A in March. Ronaldo then scored the 58th hat-trick of his career against Luxembourg for Portugal.
Messi's only hat-trick of 2021 came against Bolivia in a 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifier.
#8 Penalties scored [Cristiano Ronaldo - 10, Lionel Messi - 6]
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 10 penalties and missed two in 2021. Lionel Messi scored six penalties but missed two as well. We have to say that Ronaldo edges Messi on this metric.
#7 Freekicks scored [Cristiano Ronaldo - 0, Lionel Messi - 5]
It's worth noting that back when Ronaldo was excellent from free-kicks, Messi wasn't even on set-piece duties. It is a skill that he has added to his repertoire over the course of time. There is only one winner here. Ronaldo is clearly not effective from free-kicks anymore, whereas Lionel Messi continues to be one of the best in the business.
#6 Goals from outside the box [Cristiano Ronaldo - 4, Lionel Messi - 11]
Lionel Messi's technique while trying to score from outside the box is simply exquisite. Cristiano Ronaldo is more of a poacher and if you afford him too much space inside the box, he will find the back of the net. However, he is not as threatening as Lionel Messi is from outside the area.
#5 Goals from inside the box [Cristiano Ronaldo - 32, Lionel Messi - 21]
As we mentioned earlier, Ronaldo's predatory instincts inside the box are slightly superior to Messi's. The numbers speak for themselves. Ronaldo scored 11 more from inside the box than Messi.
#4 Goals with weaker foot [Cristiano Ronaldo - 12, Lionel Messi - 2]
The fact that Lionel Messi is not all that good with his weaker foot is an argument that has consistently been used against him. He deserves a lot of plaudits for always shifting the ball to his stronger left foot and scoring even though the defenders know that's what he is trying to do.
But Messi has scored just two goals with his right foot while Ronaldo has scored 12 with his left foot.
#3 Headed goals [Cristiano Ronaldo - 9, Lionel Messi - 1]
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best in the world when it comes to aerial ability. He has an incredible leap in him and he also gets plenty of hang time. Ronaldo is always waiting for a floated ball into the box and he almost always manages to rise above his opponents and nod the ball in.
This is in stark contrast to the diminutive Lionel Messi. The Argentinian international has scored quite a few headed goals but it really is not his forte. He managed to score just one headed goal in 2021 while Ronaldo managed to score nine.
#2 Top speed [Cristiano Ronaldo - 33.21 kmph, Lionel Messi - 32.4 kmph]
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have both lost a yard of pace in recent years. But they can still stir their stumps and gallop past defenders, although they don't whip out that burst of pace as often as they used to.
Ronaldo clocked a top speed which was higher than Messi's by almost 1 kmph in 2021.
#1 Man of the Match awards [Cristiano Ronaldo - 13, Lionel Messi - 30]
Man of the match awards are a good measure of how frequently a player affects and dominates games. Lionel Messi was spectacular in the first half of 2021 for Barcelona. He was also in exceptional form for Argentina in the 2021 Copa America.
Messi pocketed a whopping 30 Man of the Match awards in total as opposed to Ronaldo's 13.
