Twitter compares Ronaldo and Messi after their midweek exploits in the Champions League

The Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate refuses to be over, even after the Portuguese jumped ship to the Serie A in the summer. While their goal-scoring exploits in their respective leagues are still compared, the Champions League gives the world the only opportunity to assess both of them in the same tournament. And in midweek, both of them were on fire.

Ronaldo sent ripples around the world on Tuesday night, when he scored a fantastic hattrick to send Juventus through to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The Serie A side had a task at hand, as their opponents Atletico Madrid were already leading by a 2-0 margin from the first hand. Ronaldo timed his goals to perfection and ensured that Juventus had a smooth sailing into the game. It was his 8th hattrick in the Champions League, equaling the record set by Messi earlier this season.

The baton was passed on to the diminutive Argentinean on Wednesday and the whole world watched in anticipation expecting Messi to respond. And the Barcelona skipper did so in style. Barcelona needed a win against Lyon to qualify and Messi was in inspired form on the night. He scored 2 - one brilliant panenka and the other a mesmerizing solo effort - and also set up Dembele and Pique to score two more goals. Barcelona won the game 5-1 thanks to their Champion and sealed a place in the quarterfinals.

At the end of the game, the world was discussing the two greatest footballers around at the moment. While Ronaldo had finally ended his goal drought in the Champions League this season, Messi had continued his brilliant form. In fact, the Argentinean was the first player to have scored 2 and assisted 2 in a match in the Champions League this season.

Ronaldo, on the other hand, had singlehandedly lifted Juventus to the quarterfinals. The greatness of these two iconic players is unparalleled, however, there are some inherent differences between their style of play. It was once again evident in the midweek games and Twitter was quick to compare the two players after their blistering performances. Here are some of the best tweets.

Cristiano Ronaldo should never get disrespected and never get doubted by anyone. But if you watch both Messi & Cristiano for 90 minutes long and still believe that Cristiano is better at playing football than Messi, then I’m sorry but: you are wrong.
— AFC Ajax 💫 (@TheEuropeanLad) March 13, 2019

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calling someone else goat with 12 goals and 9 assists less than the actual goat Messi with 36 goals and 21 assists and they played the exact same amount of 36 games
— Andreas Ruschke (@GodSafeTheLord) March 13, 2019

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Let's not get it twisted; this single performance of Lionel Messi (in contrast of Ronaldo's yesterday) is not why he is the goat. He is the goat because this is what we have been witnessing over the past 10 years.
— Zafer (@zaferdc) March 13, 2019

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Messi this season (UCL):6 Games 8 Goals3 Assist0 Red Cards0 lossesRonaldo this season (UCL):7 Games4 Goal1 Assist1 Red card3 losses pic.twitter.com/aqc3GcwWwW
— Luis (suspended) (@LR10EliteEra) March 13, 2019

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Yesterday Ronaldo had a great game, Messi was trending, today Messi had a great game and he is still trending.. Messi is the SI unit of football 🐐 🐐 #Messi pic.twitter.com/IsJngndgRT
— Jiji_Byte (@ByteJiji) March 13, 2019

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Messi is the most complete player of the two, he can play anywhere along the front as well as in midfield, scoring and creating. Unbiased fans would surely agree. However, Ronaldo is ahead when it comes to physicality and ability to drive a team forward in the crunch times
— Martyn Arthur (@MartynJArthur) March 13, 2019

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pic.twitter.com/xc7hPBZdgW
— @FibreReloaded (@fibrereloaded) March 13, 2019

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Ronaldo scored easy goals yesterday and y’all had to drag Messi. Now you’ve angered the little man that was calm.NEVER ANGER MESSI!!!
— Chemical Brother 👌 (@chemicalbrodar) March 13, 2019

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Messi doesn't have to prove a point.He is the point!The standard!The S.I Unit for measuring every footballer's success.Especially Ronaldo's.#Messi pic.twitter.com/RxXlfuj8h7
— Samuel C. Chukwu (@SamuelCChukwu) March 13, 2019

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Just watching Messi tonight and having watched Ronaldo last night I think what makes #Messi the better player is team work. He not only scores as much as #Ronaldo does but he is unselfish and creates for others.
— Lance Guma (@LanceGuma) March 13, 2019

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Ronaldo : Goalscorer Messi : Goalscorer , Playmaker , Dribbler , Assister , Controller.#Messi #Messiah 🐐🔝😘⚽ pic.twitter.com/HavRdcz3e1
— Vijay kumar Reddy ❗ (@reddyvijay981) March 13, 2019

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Ronaldo might be taller and older but fact remains he would always be in Messi’s shadow. Case dismissed. https://t.co/MqLhzf2OIg
— Chemical Brother 👌 (@chemicalbrodar) March 13, 2019

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The more you compare Ronaldo to messi. The more messi show masterclass to disclaim the comparism..Think about it !!A mad finishing and a banana assist for pique😁 and dembele.#BarcaOL pic.twitter.com/CI4qGQuhJ4
— Overdoze 💊 (@Aqboooola) March 13, 2019

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About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six 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 Vikshith R