Football's greatest - where does Lionel Messi rank?

[Village Idiot]

Think he's scored in like the last 7-8 el classicos in a row aswell so harsh to say he hasn't turned up in big games.

 

No. Hasn't scored in this season's to begin with, and I recall quite a few others where he hasn't scored in the recent 2-3 seasons.

 

Didn't score in the CL semis in 2010 either, which were arguably the biggest Clásicos he's played.

 

Personally I don't really know what the Ballon D'Or is supposed to mean anymore, but Ronaldo failed in the big games this year. Failed in the Cup final against Atlético, failed in the CL semis against BVB. Granted Messi didn't fare too better (was injuried against Bayern though) but I'm party to looking to Munich this year.

[Cronky]

When Ronaldo has space to run into, like last night, he's devastating. Tie him up and it's a different story.

[Village Idiot]

Also think it will do Messi a lot of good to not win this thing this year. He definitely isn't as hungry as he was.

[Hughesy]

For all Ronaldo's great scoring..... all time greats lead their teams to trophies.

 

Like it or not Ronaldo doesn't do that and for all that hype about his Balon D'or credentials again he has won a total of zilch.

 

 

I think that is such a non-starter as an argument - Messi is in a better team.

[mrmojorisin75]

Also think it will do Messi a lot of good to not win this thing this year. He definitely isn't as hungry as he was.

 

feel for ronaldo on this front like, as you mentioned since that 2010 semi and subsequent drubbings by messi & barca ronaldo really seems to have maintained and actually improved his focus and consistency...he'll lose to a bayern player i imagine this year but surely he could literally do no more himself in the last year?

[SiLvOR]

Really hope Ronaldo wins it this year, the man is phenomenal.

[mrmojorisin75]

me too, and i never thought i'd say that

 

the consistency he's shown alone for so many fucking years man

[The College Dropout]

When Ronaldo has space to run into, like last night, he's devastating. Tie him up and it's a different story.

 

Best player ever on the counter from what i've seen. Flat track, playground bully it maybe but it's awesome to watch.

[Mole_Toonfan]

For all Ronaldo's great scoring..... all time greats lead their teams to trophies.

 

Like it or not Ronaldo doesn't do that and for all that hype about his Balon D'or credentials again he has won a total of zilch.

 

 

I think that is such a non-starter as an argument - Messi is in a better team.

 

Messi doesn't play for Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid...

 

Two teams who stopped Madrid from winning anything  and nullified Ronaldo...

[Neil]

It's honestly nothing short of a farce if Ronaldo doesn't win it this year.

 

Ribery has the trophies and is an excellent player. I don't think the gap however is that close that the fact Ribery has won the treble should mean he wins the award.

 

Ribery v Ronaldo is a no-contest if we're talking purely in terms of their footballing ability.

 

Messi has still been absurdly brilliant but Ronaldo has shown more for me, not to mention the fact he simply looks hungrier, probably spurred on by this 'lack of respect' thing he's got inside his head. Whatever it is, it's motivating him to hit even higher levels - higher than Messi this season certainly.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Cutting through the treacle.

[Flip]

For all Ronaldo's great scoring..... all time greats lead their teams to trophies.

 

Like it or not Ronaldo doesn't do that and for all that hype about his Balon D'or credentials again he has won a total of zilch.

 

 

I think that is such a non-starter as an argument - Messi is in a better team.

 

Messi doesn't play for Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid...

 

Two teams who stopped Madrid from winning anything  and nullified Ronaldo...

 

He has led his team to glory tbh, but still for me Messi is a much better footballer, look at Ronaldo yesterday, he was nullified by Sweden for most part and got a goal when Sweden started to move higher up the pitch and then got two goals on the counter against two defenders who are worse than Mike Williamson. Says a lot about last night.

 

Last year I had CRonaldo as the third best in the world behind Iniesta but this year he's a obvious second, I understand arguments for being called the best in the world as well, but a lot of these people only look at the amount of goals.

[Flip]

It's honestly nothing short of a farce if Ronaldo doesn't win it this year. He's clearly been the best player in the world this year. I'm not sure how that can be disputed.

 

Ribery has the trophies and is an excellent player. I don't think the gap however is that close that the fact Ribery has won the treble should mean he wins the award.

 

Ribery v Ronaldo is a no-contest if we're talking purely in terms of their footballing ability.

 

Neil do you watch a lot of the Bundesliga or a lot of Real Madrid? Their footballing ability isn't THAT for off, the difference between both is that Ronaldo scores more for the team while Ribery works more for the team. I think Ronaldo is a better player, but you can't really say it's a no-contest in terms of footballing ability. Ronaldo is clearly the more spectacular player, but don't down on Bundesligas best player who also happened to qualify his team last night from a much harder position.

[Neil]

It's honestly nothing short of a farce if Ronaldo doesn't win it this year. He's clearly been the best player in the world this year. I'm not sure how that can be disputed.

 

Ribery has the trophies and is an excellent player. I don't think the gap however is that close that the fact Ribery has won the treble should mean he wins the award.

 

Ribery v Ronaldo is a no-contest if we're talking purely in terms of their footballing ability.

 

Neil do you watch a lot of the Bundesliga or a lot of Real Madrid? Their footballing ability isn't THAT for off, the difference between both is that Ronaldo scores more for the team while Ribery works more for the team. I think Ronaldo is a better player, but you can't really say it's a no-contest in terms of footballing ability. Ronaldo is clearly the more spectacular player, but don't down on Bundesligas best player who also happened to qualify his team last night from a much harder position.

 

I watch a fair bit of both. Ronaldo is on an entirely different level.

 

This thing about "all Ronaldo does is score goals". That seems to be a comment based on his selfishness - and he sure is selfish, often with good reason - but he also contributes his fair share of assists and contributes plenty towards the chances of others. And, regarding goals, this isn't someone who's happened to score a few more. He has reached absurd levels, along with Messi. 31 goals in mid November ffs. That's utterly incredible and it's a complete disservice if people summarise that as "Ronaldo scores a lot" or "he's scored more than Ribery." We might not see these levels again for decades. A once-in-a-generation player, and we're lucky to have 2 of them in their pomp.

 

Also, you're really stretching it if you're trying to imply that Ribery did more to get France through than Ronaldo did for Portugal. He scored every single goal, man. It's the definition of single-handedly winning it for your team.

[Mole_Toonfan]

It's honestly nothing short of a farce if Ronaldo doesn't win it this year. He's clearly been the best player in the world this year. I'm not sure how that can be disputed.

 

Ribery has the trophies and is an excellent player. I don't think the gap however is that close that the fact Ribery has won the treble should mean he wins the award.

 

Ribery v Ronaldo is a no-contest if we're talking purely in terms of their footballing ability.

 

Disagree.... its a no-contest with regards to goalscoring not footballing ability.

 

Basically.... Ribery was a key reason why Bayern won the treble, nullified Barca and Dortmund's best threats and created nearly every goal in Semi and final or being a key part of each goal.

 

Meanwhile Ronaldo did nothing against Dortmund and Atletico leading to a trophyless season and both teams exploited the fact Ronaldo doesn't track back.

 

To me being a major reason in winning a treble and showing up against the best teams in Europe and killing them off is much more impressive than scoring a load of goals against mid table dross in meaningless games.

 

For all Ronaldo's goals, his team won nothing and this has been the case for a lot of his Real Madrid career.... kill off the smaller opponents but in key moments he doesn't drive them to trophies..... Yes Messi has been there but he hasn't always stopped him which was the case last season with Dortmund and Atletico.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest palnese]

The Ronaldo's are probably the most complete attackers ever tbh. They both had everything

[Ronaldo]

THE Ronaldo wasn't nearly as good in the air as Cristiano, mind.

[Guest palnese]

That's true.

[Mole_Toonfan]

The Ronaldo's are probably the most complete attackers ever tbh. They both had everything

 

This Ronaldo is easier to lock down for bigger teams than R9 was.... didn't matter what you did with him he would rip you apart.

 

This Ronaldo can be marshaled out of the game, R9 was close to unstoppable to stop when he was fit.

 

Also he doesn't really have everything.... Cristiano isn't that good in closed spaces and doesn't have much vision or passing.

 

 

 

 

[The College Dropout]

It's honestly nothing short of a farce if Ronaldo doesn't win it this year. He's clearly been the best player in the world this year. I'm not sure how that can be disputed.

 

Ribery has the trophies and is an excellent player. I don't think the gap however is that close that the fact Ribery has won the treble should mean he wins the award.

 

Ribery v Ronaldo is a no-contest if we're talking purely in terms of their footballing ability.

 

Neil do you watch a lot of the Bundesliga or a lot of Real Madrid? Their footballing ability isn't THAT for off, the difference between both is that Ronaldo scores more for the team while Ribery works more for the team. I think Ronaldo is a better player, but you can't really say it's a no-contest in terms of footballing ability. Ronaldo is clearly the more spectacular player, but don't down on Bundesligas best player who also happened to qualify his team last night from a much harder position.

 

I don't mean this lightly but Ribery is not in Ronaldo's class. his assist was a crappy shot and he skied another chance you would bet Ronaldo would at least hit the target with. Ronaldo scored 4 goals and hit the bar. You say he struggled when Sweden played deep but he scored and almost scored another.

 

Ribery's a great player. Ronaldo is an all-time great.

[The College Dropout]

Not sure about the vision or passing. Ronaldo has one of the most accurate  long shots ever so he takes many less through ball attempts. He rarely hits balls too long or short in good positions though.

 

Closed spaces aye.

 

THE Ronaldo wasn't nearly as good in the air as Cristiano, mind.

[Geordie Ahmed]

Messi is a better player than Ronaldo though on current form Ronaldo is ahead BUT it is absurd to suggest Ribery is on Ronaldo's level or close to it

[Flip]

It's honestly nothing short of a farce if Ronaldo doesn't win it this year. He's clearly been the best player in the world this year. I'm not sure how that can be disputed.

 

Ribery has the trophies and is an excellent player. I don't think the gap however is that close that the fact Ribery has won the treble should mean he wins the award.

 

Ribery v Ronaldo is a no-contest if we're talking purely in terms of their footballing ability.

 

Neil do you watch a lot of the Bundesliga or a lot of Real Madrid? Their footballing ability isn't THAT for off, the difference between both is that Ronaldo scores more for the team while Ribery works more for the team. I think Ronaldo is a better player, but you can't really say it's a no-contest in terms of footballing ability. Ronaldo is clearly the more spectacular player, but don't down on Bundesligas best player who also happened to qualify his team last night from a much harder position.

 

I watch a fair bit of both. Ronaldo is on an entirely different level.

 

This thing about "all Ronaldo does is score goals". That seems to be a comment based on his selfishness - and he sure is selfish, often with good reason - but he also contributes his fair share of assists and contributes plenty towards the chances of others. And, regarding goals, this isn't someone who's happened to score a few more. He has reached absurd levels, along with Messi. 31 goals in mid November ffs. That's utterly incredible and it's a complete disservice if people summarise that as "Ronaldo scores a lot" or "he's scored more than Ribery." We might not see these levels again for decades. A once-in-a-generation player, and we're lucky to have 2 of them in their pomp.

 

Also, you're really stretching it if you're trying to imply that Ribery did more to get France through than Ronaldo did for Portugal. He scored every single goal, man. It's the definition of single-handedly winning it for your team.

 

I'm talking about people raving about Ronaldo's performance yesterday. I agree with you, I was talking more about the fact that Ribery works his socks of defensively as well and doesn't have the same freedom offensively as CRonaldo does. I think the roles they play suits them perfectly, I couldn't see Ribery scoring as many goals in a free role and I couldn't see Ronaldo providing the cover that Ribery does and work his socks off on that flank for Bayern, which was a great reason to why they were able to maintain shape throughout the CL season since Robben was always having that more 'free-role'.

 

I just don't agree that you think their ability is MILES off, they just do different things on the pitch in different ways, in terms of pure technical ability I don't see Ronaldo as a much better player tbh, his dribbles are rarely successful and what he does so well is drive the ball forward and pace and shoot with an unbelievable accuracy, it's the finishing ability that Ribery lack, but he compensates more than enough with working his socks off and there's no surprise to why the Bayern fans adores him. I remember when he first started in the Bundesliga, Diego was absolutely running riot in that league, and as soon as Ribery signed for Bayern he took over the crown as the best player in the league, something that has stayed with him ever since.

 

It's honestly nothing short of a farce if Ronaldo doesn't win it this year. He's clearly been the best player in the world this year. I'm not sure how that can be disputed.

 

Ribery has the trophies and is an excellent player. I don't think the gap however is that close that the fact Ribery has won the treble should mean he wins the award.

 

Ribery v Ronaldo is a no-contest if we're talking purely in terms of their footballing ability.

 

Neil do you watch a lot of the Bundesliga or a lot of Real Madrid? Their footballing ability isn't THAT for off, the difference between both is that Ronaldo scores more for the team while Ribery works more for the team. I think Ronaldo is a better player, but you can't really say it's a no-contest in terms of footballing ability. Ronaldo is clearly the more spectacular player, but don't down on Bundesligas best player who also happened to qualify his team last night from a much harder position.

 

I don't mean this lightly but Ribery is not in Ronaldo's class. his assist was a crappy shot and he skied another chance you would bet Ronaldo would at least hit the target with. Ronaldo scored 4 goals and hit the bar. You say he struggled when Sweden played deep but he scored and almost scored another.

 

Ribery's a great player. Ronaldo is an all-time great.

 

Stop watching highlights, if you've seen the game you'll see that he was far more involved in the game than that, he had 3 or 4 yellow cards against his defenders, one which was sent off as well.

 

THE Ronaldo wasn't nearly as good in the air as Cristiano, mind.

 

True, but he did was Cristiano does at a higher pace. Injuries 'killed' him.

[Tooj]

Not sure about the vision or passing. Ronaldo has one of the most accurate  long shots ever so he takes many less through ball attempts. He rarely hits balls too long or short in good positions though.

 

Closed spaces aye.

 

THE Ronaldo wasn't nearly as good in the air as Cristiano, mind.

 

Because he's a greedy bastard.

 

Outstanding player though.

 

Unbelievable how little he gets injured as well.

[TenkoDaLuz]

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