Getty
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 12: FIFA Ballon d’Or nominees Lionel Messi of Argentina and FC Barcelona (L) and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid smile during the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala 2014 at the Kongresshaus on January 12, 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)
Getty
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – JANUARY 12: FIFA Ballon d’Or nominees Lionel Messi of Argentina and FC Barcelona (L) and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid smile during the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala 2014 at the Kongresshaus on January 12, 2015 in Zurich, Switzerland. (Photo by Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images)
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two greatest football players of all time. The two greats have broken record after record every year since their respective debuts, and even now, 15 years later, they are still doing it at the top level of the game.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Messi left FC Barcelona this summer and joined French club Paris Saint Germain. However, this was a legendary summer transfer window as Ronaldo also changed clubs to join his boyhood club Manchester United again after leaving Juventus.
Cristiano Ronaldo and his stats in 2021
Ronaldo has hit the ground running in Manchester as the forward has scored a lot of goals since his return. He scored eight Premier League goals in fifteen games and has added three assists to that tally. Moreover, he has also scored six goals in five UEFA Champions League games for United and helped them progress to the next round.
This combined with his goals for Juventus has scored 47 goals for this calendar year in 65 appearances. He also has 7 assists to his name in this incredible year for the forward. While he couldn’t end the year with 40 goals, this is highly impressive for someone who is already 36.
Lionel Messi and his stats in 2021
On the other hand, Messi has had a bittersweet start to life at Paris Saint Germain. He has only scored one goal in Ligue 1 in eleven appearances along with four assists. However, he has had no problems doing it on the highest level in the UEFA Champions League as he has also scored five goals in five UCL games for PSG.
The Argentinian forward won the Ballon d’Or this season for his performances for FC Barcelona and along with his goals for PSG, he ended the year with 43 goals and 18 assists. Therefore, while he couldn’t score more goals than Ronaldo this year, he does have more goal contributions.
It’s amazing to see these two perform at this level at the top level of the game, and their fans would love to see them do it again in 2022 as well.
Read More: “Always Horribly Frustrating to Play Against”: Megan Rapinoe Sees Spain as New Top Rivals for USWNT
