English Composition

Dalton Lehrer

Peter Fields

04/19/2019

King of the Football World

The world of football is filled with outstanding players with tremendous skill,

sportsmanship, and heart. Fans create an atmosphere that is quite uncommon in other sports

around the world. Hours of training and perfecting difficult skills and rising to the occasion in

pressure filled moments seem to define the careers of the great ones. With so many amazing

players throughout history and throughout the present day, it may be hard to think that two could

stand out above all of them. Those two players would be the naturally spectacular, Lionel Messi,

and the unbreakable machine, Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo burst onto the scene a few years

before Lionel Messi but ever since these two have graced the pitch with their fantastic ability,

there has been a debate about which one is better. Worldwide it is agreed that these two players

are the greatest soccer players ever but nobody can agree on which one is better than the other.

Lionel Messi is an amazing player that commands respect from any opposition on the pitch but

Cristiano Ronaldo is a different beast. When looking at statistics and winningest one can see that

Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Lionel Messi. It is an absolute privilege to watch these two play

the game that is loved by so many worldwide, but one must conquer the other.

When comparing the two players one can see that Cristiano Ronaldo is bigger, stronger,

faster, and can jump higher than Lionel Messi. Ronaldo’s posture not only makes him more

difficult to push off of the ball, but he is nearly unstoppable in the air. If he does not beat you one
way he will most certainly crush you the other. When comparing statistics one can see that

Ronaldo has scored more club team goals and international goals which put him at a higher

career goal tally than Lionel Messi. Also, Cristiano Ronaldo is the top goalscorer in the UEFA

Champions League Tournament. He seems to show up when his team needs him most on the

biggest stage of them all. When looking at Cristiano you can see that he works extremely hard to

keep his body in shape. He has trained himself since his early childhood in order to be the best

player possible. Messi does in fact work very hard himself, but when comparing the work ethic

between these two amazing players, Cristiano takes the cake. When comparing trophies between

these two one will see that Cristiano Ronaldo has won more UEFA Champions League Trophies

than Lionel Messi. Also, Ronaldo has has triumphed on the International level as well when he

won the European International Tournament with Portugal, his home country. A chink in

Lionel’s armor is that he has never succeeded with his national team, Argentina. Messi on paper

has a better group of players around him during national games but he has always fallen short of

gold. Again after comparing career statics, winningness, and physical traits one can see that

Ronaldo does indeed have the upper hand.

As of now Cristiano Ronaldo tops Lionel Messi in multiple statistical areas. Ronaldo has

scored twenty-two more goals for club and country in his career. Cristiano beats Messi’s goal

tally in club football by two goals as well. Both players are neck and neck goal-wise for club

play. Cristiano is also ahead of Lionel by seventeen goals in tournaments such as the UEFA

Super Cup, and the Copa Del Rey. Another area where Ronaldo once again tops Messi is in

International goals. Cristiano leads Messi in that statistic by twenty goals. These statistics are

helpful when arguing for Cristiano Ronaldo but there is indeed a far more crucial element, the
UEFA Champions League. This tournament brings the best teams from the best leagues in the

world together to play against each other in the mother of all tournaments in the world of

football. This tournament is where legends are made and destroyed. Throughout Cristiano

Ronaldo’s career has made a name for himself by willing his team to victory. Ronaldo is the all

time leading scorer in the tournament by a whopping twenty-six goals. Lionel Messi happens to

be the second all time scorer. The third leading scorer trails Ronaldo and Messi by forty plus

goals. When looking at Ronaldo’s statistics one can see that he dominants Lionel Messi in most

aspects of the game.

Fans of Lionel Messi are being reasonable when saying that he has more assists and has

played less games than Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi happens to be three years younger than

Cristiano so there is some time for Lionel to catch up in other statistical areas. As of now,

Ronaldo is close to Messi’s assist totals and cannot help that he is older than Lionel. Cristiano

Ronaldo has been on top of the football world for more than a decade now. His time at the top

provides an example of his longevity which positively adds to his legacy. In the world of football

once a player hits the age of thirty they begin to lost value. Soccer is a game were the best

players hit their prime in their early twenties. Cristiano has been on top of the football world

since his teenage years. Ronaldo’s lack of assist totals sheds light onto his goalscoring

tendencies. He is extremely dangerous in front of goal no matter who is goalkeeping. Not many

are able to stay in front of Ronaldo when he is dribbling towards the goal. Messi usually plays in

the midfield which allows him to distribute the ball to his teammates more often which in turn

creates more assists for himself. Cristiano Ronaldo has primarily played the striker position

which puts him at a slight disadvantage for accumulating assists. He is looked to in order to
provide goalscoring. When comparing Messi and Ronaldo’s assist totals, one can see that Messi

has a slight advantage. One must look deeper into the game of football in order to understand

why there is a difference in totals. Not every statistic is as clear cut as they may seem.

Both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are amazing players and their talent is

something the world has never seen before. They are legends of the game and bring in massive

amounts of revenue because it is considered a privilege to see these players perform. At the end

of both of their careers they will be considered the best players to ever step on the pitch, but

when comparing the two it is easy to see that Cristiano Ronaldo tops Messi both statistically and

in winningness. No disrespect to Lionel Messi because he must be respected due to his rare and

unbelievable talent, but Ronaldo’s legacy already outshines Leo’s.