Lionel Messi has once again grabbed headlines with his blockbuster move to Inter Miami. Messi, who was almost on the cusp of reuniting with FC Barcelona, decided to shift his career to the MLS. In the process, the former PSG star denied Al-Hilal’s humongous $1.2 billion deal. However, even the idea of moving to Saudi Arabia once again reignited the rumors of a showdown between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi is here#Messi𓃵 #InterMiami pic.twitter.com/AwvI7JYE18
— Inter Miami CF (@intermiamifc0) June 8, 2023
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been pitted against each other for more than 15 years now. While fans have contradicting opinions on the Messi versus Ronaldo debate, the two icons’ legacy in soccer will remain unparalleled. In this article, we will take a look at the four Ronaldo-held records that Messi obliterated recently.
Lionel Messi was crowned as the top goal scorer in Europe’s Top 5 Leagues
Last month, Lionel Messi became the outright top goal scorer in the top five leagues of European soccer. The top five leagues, or the Big Five, are the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1. Until last month, Cristiano Ronaldo held the record for most goals scored in the Big Five leagues with 495. However, Messi broke the record last month with his goal against Strasbourg in Ligue 1.
Lionel Messi’s goal against Strasbourg brought his tally to 496 goals, thus surpassing the Al-Nassr star’s record. Moreover, it was also the goal that clinched PSG its record-breaking 11th Ligue 1 title, overtaking Saint-Etienne’s haul of 10 Ligue 1 trophies. Last but not least, it was the last goal that the former PSG star scored for the Parisien club.
Lionel Messi has also broken Ronaldo’s record for most goals for the Top 5 League clubs
Messi is also the holder of the record for most goals scored for teams in the top five European leagues. The 2022 World Cup winner has spent the majority of his career at FC Barcelona. He scored 672 goals for the Catalan giants in 778 appearances. The former Barcelona star also registered 32 goals in 75 appearances in his two-year stint at PSG. This brings Messi’s tally to 704 goals in 853 appearances in his European club career.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo scored 696 goals in 918 appearances in his European club career. Ronaldo has played for some of the biggest teams in Europe like Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. The Portuguese talisman scored 145 times for United, 450 times for Real Madrid, and 101 times for Juventus. Moreover, Messi also achieved this record in 84 fewer games than Ronaldo (via messivsronaldoapp).
ALL TIME CLUB GOALS IN EUROPEAN COMPETITIONS
MESSI – 704
RONALDO – 701Messi won the European battle 🐐 pic.twitter.com/I9zX9L1YxT
— Barça Worldwide (@BarcaWorldwide) June 7, 2023
With both Messi and Ronaldo currently out of European soccer, these records of Lionel Messi will likely remain untouched for the time being. However, upcoming stars like Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland might soon topple the long-held records held by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Most opponents scored against in Champions League history
If there’s any competition where Cristiano Ronaldo has truly left his mark, it is the UEFA Champions League. The former Real Madrid star has multiple Champions League accolades to his name. Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer in the premier European club competition with 140 goals. He also holds the record for most assists in the competition with 41.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Champions League title on five occasions. He won his first title with Manchester United back in 2008 when the Red Devils defeated Chelsea in penalty shootouts. Ronaldo further won four more titles with Real Madrid in 2014, and 2016-2018. He holds the joint record of most Champions League titles alongside his former Real Madrid teammates Karim Benzema, Dani Carvajal, Luka Modric, and AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi has also won four Champions League titles with FC Barcelona. He’s the second top scorer and the second top assists provider in the Champions League. Messi also holds the record for most Champions League group stage goals (71), round of 16 goals (29), goals for one club (120 for Barca), and most successive seasons scoring in the Champions League (18).
After his goal against Maccabi Haifa, Lionel Messi has now scored against 39 teams in the Champions League.#UCL pic.twitter.com/Fmdu0z7Xyk
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) September 14, 2022
Although the one impressive record that was held by Ronaldo and was broken by Messi last year was the record for scoring against most opponents in the Champions League. Last year, with his goal against Maccabi Haifa, Messi became the player who’s scored against most opponents in the competition. The Israeli club became Messi’s 39th victim in the Champions League, which is one more than Ronaldo.
Lionel Messi overtook Cristiano Ronaldo’s post to have the most-liked picture on Instagram
Lionel Messi has also got the better of Cristiano Ronaldo off the field. Besides his soccer prowess, Ronaldo’s charismatic social media presence is known to all. The former Manchester United talisman is the most followed person on Instagram with over 580 million followers. Ronaldo also held the record for the most-liked photo on Instagram by an athlete.
View this post on Instagram
Just before the World Cup 2022 started, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi appeared in a commercial for the French luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton. A snippet of the commercial, which showed Messi and Ronaldo playing a game of chess together, was posted by Ronaldo. The picture went viral and got more than 40 million likes.
View this post on Instagram
Lionel Messi, however, broke Ronaldo’s record after winning the World Cup in 2022. Messi shared a picture of him lifting the prestigious World Cup trophy, which amassed over 75 million likes. With this, not only does Messi have the most liked post on Instagram by an athlete but also the most liked post in the history of Instagram.