5 incredible records shared by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

With 9 Ballon d'Ors between them, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are widely regarded as the two best players of this generation. For some, however, they are the best of all time.

Both players have stepped up for their teams whenever required and have regularly broken the 50 goal barrier in a season. Having scored over 500 goals each in their careers for club and country, they are bound to have a lot of records to their name.

While they have over 50 individual records to their name, there are a few records that are shared between the two! Here are five such records:

#1 Most hat-tricks in Champions League: 7

Two hat-tricks in two games and Cristiano Ronaldo is level on terms with Lionel Messi for the most number of hat-tricks in the Champions League. Both the players were on five hat-tricks each at the start of the season and had managed to notch up two more this season.

While Messi's hat-tricks have come against Celtic and Manchester City in the group stage, Ronaldo has scored them against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in the Last 8 and the semi-final of the competition.

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The Real Madrid superstar has at least one more match to play this season and clearly has the upper hand in taking this record to his name alone. Messi however, will have to wait till the start of the next season's competition to have any chance of registering another hat-trick.

#2 Most opponents scored against in a single season: 19

When it comes to scoring, Messi and Ronaldo are always on top of the charts. Both players have been pushing each other to better themselves, and that has resulted in them scoring in almost every single match.

Ronaldo was the first to achieve this feat when he scored past every single team that came up against Real Madrid in the La Liga 2011/12 season. The Portuguese international scored hat-trick past 7 of the 19 opponents that season and ended up the season with 46 goals. Despite all this, he did not manage to win the Pichichi Trophy as Messi scored 50 goals!

Messi did not let Ronaldo be the only player to score past every opponent in the La Liga for long. In the very next season (2012/13), the Argentine also managed to achieve this feat. The Barcelona superstar also took home the Pichichi Trophy after notching 46 goals in that season.

#3 Most La Liga hat-tricks in a season: 8 hat-tricks

Scoring in La Liga is an easy thing for both Messi and Ronaldo. The duo has been scoring a total of 75+ goals together for the last 8-9 seasons now! On their way to the Pichichi trophy, the notch up a lot of hat-tricks as well. However, they have not beaten each other regards to the most number of hat-tricks in a season.

Both the players have scored a maximum of 8 hat-tricks in a season. Messi scored eight hat-tricks in 2011/12 season, and that was the record for the most number of hat-tricks in a season since then.

Ronaldo took it up as a challenge and scored 8 in the 2014/15 season. The Portuguese international had five hat-tricks at the end of April but scored two goals in the month of May to equal the record held by the Argentine.

#4 Most appearances in the FIFPro World XI: 10 times

When you are the best players in the world, you are bound to make it into the FIFPro World XI every season. It's no surprise that the duo has been in the team from 2007.

Despite making it to the team ten times each, it's Messi who's got to get more praise for this. He is two years younger than the Portuguese international and still has managed to match him.

Ronaldo aims to play for Real Madrid until the age of 40, but he is not likely to make it to the team in 3-4 years time. Messi might have it in him to get into the team for another 5-6 years, but until then, this record is bound to be shared between the two.

#5 Most league matches scored in a single season: 27 games

Each team plays 38 games in La Liga, just like they do in Serie A, Premier League and other major leagues with 20 teams playing. Unlike the other leagues, Ronaldo and Messi have been scoring for fun in La Liga.

While Messi was scoring hat-trick after hat-trick in the 2011/12 season, Ronaldo was the one who was scoring in almost all games. He scored in 27 of the 38 games! He notched 46 goals that season in the Spanish first division and finished the season with a total of 66 goals in 61 appearances.

Messi however, did not wait long before he matched that record. In the very next season (2012/13), the Argentine stepped up and scored in exactly 27 La Liga games! The Barcelona star, however, played in just 32 games, 4 of which were as a substitute.