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.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over seven 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.

Know More