Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo is pretty much unsolvable.No matter how many times somebody waves around claims that they have the answer to the footballing quandary, you can bet that there will still be legions of fans who vehemently disagree.That's not a bad thing, by the way, because everybody is entitled to their opinion and the entire GOAT debate would fall flat on its face if we reduced things to objectivity and statistics.
Messi vs Ronaldo debate
However, that doesn't mean that there aren't certain nuances and limbs of the Ronaldo vs Messi debate that can be called into question, regardless of whether it cracks the whole conundrum or not.
And today's burrow into the Messi vs Ronaldo rabbit hole concerns the conclusion that the Argentine is the greatest player of all time and the Portuguese is the greatest goalscorer of all time.
In many ways, it's a bloodless and compromising agreement that keeps everybody vaguely happy and allows us to celebrate both Ballon d'Or winners for their finest achievements in the sport.
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Ronaldo: The goalscoring GOAT?
And it seems pretty accurate, right? Besides, 2021 is the year in which, depending on whose data you trust, Ronaldo became the scoring world-record holder in both club and international football.
However, even if you're a member of the Czech Football Association shouting 'Josef Bican!' at the top of your voice, it seems inevitable that Ronaldo will conquer all the goalscoring tallies eventually.
So, there we have it then, Ronaldo is the better goalscorer than Messi. Simple. Done and dusted. Thanks for reading. See you soon.
Wait...
Yeh, on seconds thoughts, things aren't quite as simple as that and the peaceful conclusion to the Messi vs Ronaldo debate has been shattered by a thread from Twitter user @6BDORS this week.
Titled in rather self-explanatory fashion: "Ronaldo being a better goal scorer than Lionel Messi is a myth," the thread needed just six tweets to declare Messi as the greatest marksmen in history.
And to their credit, the brief and thought-provoking statistics aren't merely the pipe dreams of a Messi fanboy, but genuine food for thought about whether or not Ronaldo is the superior striker.
Twitter thread argues Messi's case
Well, that is with the exception of one incorrect statistic, which we have duly provided a correction of below, but even the amended version of that error still points towards Messi as the top dog.
So, strap yourselves in, brace yourself for controversy and wade into the Twitter warfare that is Messi vs Ronaldo and check out the eye-opening thread right here:
Correction: By our calculations using Transfermarkt, Ronaldo has scored 650 goals since signing for Real Madrid in 2009 whereas Messi has scored 661 goals. Therefore, the point still stands.
Does Messi take the crown?
Well then, maybe the conclusion we should actually draw is that Messi is the greatest goalscorer of all time and the greatest player of all time. That's not quite so peaceful, is it?
However, before we get ahead of ourselves, it's important to note that the entire debate will become much clearer when both players have retired because their two-year age difference is certainly problematic.
Besides, while Ronaldo might be sitting pretty with superior career and international goals, who's to say that Messi won't have both of those records by the time that he hangs up his boots?
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It's a big assumption, it is, but when Messi has the benefit of the doubt because of his age across so many metrics, it could be the case that he completely dominates by the time he catches up.
Either way, it's not a good look for Ronaldo's title of the 'greatest goalscorer of all time'...
