The million dollar ?

Cr7 or Lio?

Yes.That's the question.The most simplest hardest question.
No better euphemism.Its been raging for the last three years.
Since the time,the big three of footballing genius-Ricardo Kaka,Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo shared the Balon D'or podium,we knew after Kaka,these two would set the world of football on fire.Ronaldo has been burning the AstroTurf with pace and guile.While with Lionel Messi,its been mesmerizing to see him in action.Messi is like fiery firecracker,who shows his class and virtuoso in bursts of jaw dropping dribbling ability.Ronaldo is more of a ballistic missile and he is one of those whom one can make a team around.Messi is a magician,Ronaldo is an epitome of Herculean will that sans in the modern game.What Messi has skill in abundance,Ronaldo makes it up with will power second to none.Injuries have rendered Kaka unable to compete with these two,but the battle of being the best rages on between these two champions of the game.

But indeed can we compare these two?Who is better and by how much?
Not much if you ask me.To answer who we have to look at certain aspects that are in contrast to the normal statistics.
Ronaldo is a good couple of years older, but Messi has been more rapid in development.It can be attributed to the fact that Messi has been with the same club for nearly a decade,Ronaldo has moved on from the giants of Manchester-United.Although Ronaldo has done really well to gel in Madrid,it is no secret that when he was transferred to Real Madrid,he had left a team with whom he had developed a chemistry that would not be replicated in a single season in the Los Blancos.Barcelona's home grown talent Messi in turn has developed such a chemistry with his teammates from his youth ranks,that suffice to say can never be matched,regardless of how many training sessions Ronaldo has in the Madrid squad.
Messi is hot to handle - both individually and as a play-maker.Ronaldo has been gelling in the role of playmaker in recent times under Jose Mourinho.With Mou to catalyse his already elevated skills,Ronaldo has been improving his game and pushing the threshold of perfection.Both possess the ability of reality defying shots,and indomitable skills that cannot be matched.Apples and Oranges?

Recent seasons have seen Messi mystify the game with his effervescent display that Ronaldo has struggled to match.Players have certain situtions that sportsmen refer to as form.Messi has racked in 47 goles in the last season.Ronaldo had fitness issues,but finished with 26 in the league.A great goal to game ratio when you consider he has played only 29 games.So statistics make Messi the better player.But then do they really?Messi has scored where Barcelona have demolished teams 3-0,4-0,5-0,and so on.This season they thrashed Real Madrid 5-0.But does that make Ronaldo a lesser player than Messi?Messi shouldered the attack when another great striker Ibrahimovic was injured.Ronaldo aptly filled in the role as the Madrid's man of need when Kaka was unavailable.Needless to say that whenever Ronaldo has scored,Madrid have won.But Messi's goals come in scenarios where Barcelona have routed the opposition[Arsenal 1-4 Barca an exception].It defines that Barcelona believe in the team game more than Ronaldo's Madrid.That makes the Pedro's look good,because he makes them the game.Also having the leisure of Xavi and Iniesta at the midfield involves freedom for Messi to attack.
Another thing that describes these two comparisons is their gamplay against tactical sides.Messi struggled in the world Cup against Germany with Schweinsteiger marking him long and hard,and against Mourinho's Inter Milan where he was bottled up like a genie to a robust Italian defence[although no Italians were in that squad].
Ronaldo has under Sir Alex Ferguson broken through stern defenses across Europe.
Players as I have said go through phases called form.Some develop late,some like Messi early,while some are rattled by injuries.Some just keep developing.Ronaldo's impressive regimen served him well with regard to fitness and form through six grueling years in the English league.Messi has been amazing in the Spanish Liga BBVA.
It is suggested that he may struggle in the rough and tough game in England.Ronaldo has passed that test,so he scores over Messi there.But then greatness is measured in performances and not assumptions.Two of the best.Better than the rest.A cut above so to speak.No arguments there.


It will be a perennial question,but if I were to choose,I would simply say:
"Pass".