Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi is a debate older than time itself.
Before man learned to walk, use tools or even kick a football, I don't doubt for one minute that they were discussing whether Messi's superior goal-per-game ratio settles the GOAT argument.
No doubt Socrates and Plato went on for days and days to their students about how Ronaldo deserves the advantage by way of being a more complete player as a product of hard work.
The Ronaldo vs Messi debate
Ok... ok, perhaps the debate isn't that old, but you'd be forgiven for thinking so when you traipse through the thousands and thousands of ways people have tried to separate Messi and Ronaldo.
And let's get one thing straight, I'm not saying I'm above that by any means, because if you've hopped on this humble article then you'll know that the Messi vs Ronaldo madness is back.
I know better than most that everything from university studies, statistical breakdowns, historical records and tactical analyses have been deployed to try and see who comes out on top.
Team of Ronaldo vs Team of Messis
Then, there's the slightly bonkers methods of studying Ronaldo and Messi with FIFA 21 statistics, sprinting data, Instagram earnings and even UFC simulations - yeh, honestly - being used.
But in a year defined by its madness, why not embrace the craziness and indulge in the lighter side of the GOAT debate once again by turning our attention to the world of video games?
It's that time of year when somebody takes it upon themselves to create a simulation - in this case, on PES 21 - where a full XI of Ronaldos locks horns with a full XI of Messis.
PES 21 simulation
The idea is that the more complete player, by way of having to marshall the defence as well as having to lead the attack, will emerge victorious and thus prove themselves as number one.
If you say you aren't intrigued, you're kidding yourself, so sit back and allow YouTuber 'Rich Leigh' to work his magic with the PES simulation of 22 Messis and Ronaldos you didn't know you needed:
Match report
After some suspect, albeit heroic, defending from a gang of Messis, it was indeed team Ronaldo who took the lead within the first 20 minutes, firing home a fine left-footed effort.
As you can imagine, the goalkeeping was somewhat dodgy and Ronaldo's terrible parry allowed Messi number 25 to equalise, before the two sides exchanged goals for a 2-2 deadlock at half-time.
A pretty rudimental first-half, right? Well, that's the point at which the Ronaldo vs Messi madness stopped resembling an ordinary match with no less than nine(!!??) goals arriving after the break.
A tennis rally of goals kicked off the second 45 minutes with the Messis taking the lead for the first time, only for Ronaldo to pick out Ronaldo with a beautiful pass before finding the top corner.
Then, crazily, the back and forth bumped up to 4-4 with the Messis conceding from some frankly criminal positioning in goal, only to redeem themselves with a walloping right-footed strike.
However, the evenness ended there as, for whatever reason, the Ronaldos found an extra gear and astonishingly romped their way into a 9-4 - uh huh, no typos - lead in the space of 25 minutes.
Clearly the backline of Messis gassed from 65 minutes of tracking an entire XI of footballing machines because every shot from the Ronaldos seemed to ripple the net until the final whistle.
Final score: Cristiano Ronaldos 9-4 Lionel Messis
Victory for the Ronaldos
Well, that escalated didn't it?
Let's face it, while this is by no means any sort of scientific way of judging the GOAT debate, you would expect an entire team of Ronaldos to beat an XI of Messis by way of being more rounded.
The simple fact that Ronaldo is stronger, faster and taller just means they'd be able to outwork the Barcelona clones, not to mention essentially being unstoppable in the air and from set-pieces.
Although the game was far closer than the scoreline would have you believe, an absolute bloodbath in the final half an hour reiterated that Ronaldo, if nothing else, is the more complete player.
As to who's better generally... well, neither me nor any PES simulation could possible answer that...