Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's long-awaited reunion has been two years in the making. Juventus' Champions League clash with Barcelona at Camp Nou will finally bring the two greatest footballers of a generation together again, the Portuguese having missed the return leg following a positive test.As Gary Lineker put it so poetically in BT Sport's promo video, it's only human that "when two geniuses spread their magic simultaneously, we can't resist comparing them". With 11 Ballon d'Or awards, 1461 goals, 526 assists and 66 major honours between them, there are countless ways to pit these two legends of the game against one another. From their early days at Barcelona and Manchester United (via Sporting Lisbon) respectively, it's been fascinating to watch their evolution and that has been reflected in EA Sports' various FIFAs over the years. At the very beginning, the two blurry figures who graced our screens barely resembled the duo at their peak. Not only have they been upgraded physically over the years - and you can see that video below, courtesy of Bleacher Report - their ratings also shot up once it became clear that we were witnessing greatness in action.
Courtesy of Ronaldo being older, his first two years on FIFA 2004 and 2005 did not feature Messi at all. The then Manchester United star was given an overall rating of 80 and 88 respectively in those two games.
But how did he fare once Messi entered the picture?
2006 - Ronaldo 91, Messi 78
2007 - Ronaldo 87, Messi 84
2008 - Ronaldo 91, Messi 86
2009 - Ronaldo 91, Messi 90
2010 - Ronaldo 90, Messi 90
2011 - Ronaldo 89, Messi 90
2012 - Ronaldo 92, Messi 94
2013 - Ronaldo 92, Messi 94
2014 - Ronaldo 92, Messi 94
2015 - Ronaldo 92, Messi 93
2016 - Ronaldo 93, Messi 94
2017 - Ronaldo 94, Messi 93
2018 - Ronaldo 94, Messi 94
2019 - Ronaldo 94, Messi 94
2020 - Ronaldo 93, Messi 94
2021 - Ronaldo 92, Messi 93
For the first four years, Ronaldo was on top but the Argentine soon caught up. He's only beaten him once since, back in 2017.
There were only three years when the pair went toe-to-toe. Between 2018 and 2019, and back in 2010, they received the same rating.
On eight other occasions, Messi reigned supreme - as indeed he does this year.
The changes in their respective ratings say a lot about perceptions of their attributes - even if FIFA can only tell us so much.