Messi–Ronaldo rivalry

The Messi–Ronaldo rivalry is a football rivalry between fans of Argentinian forward Lionel Messi and Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo and supposedly between the players themselves. Having won a combined 11 Ballon d'Or/FIFA Ballon d'Or awards (six for Messi and five for Ronaldo) and 10 European Golden Shoe awards (six for Messi and four for Ronaldo), both are widely regarded not only as the two best players of their generation, but also, by most in the sport, including players, writers and fans, as two of the greatest of all time. They are two of the most decorated football players ever, having won a combined 64 trophies (Ronaldo 31, Messi 33) during their senior careers thus far, and have regularly broken the 50-goal barrier in a single season. They are amongst the 29 players in the history of the sport to score over 500 career goals, with both having scored over 700 goals each in their careers for club and country.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi before an international friendly between Argentina and Portugal in Geneva, Switzerland, 9 February 2011

Journalists and pundits regularly argue the individual merits of both players in an attempt to establish who they believe is the best player in modern football or ever. Regardless of preference, football critics unanimously agree that both are the best players of their generation, outperforming their peers by a significant margin. Messi's dribbling skills are among the very best in the history of football, while Ronaldo's leadership and influence in big games, particularly under pressure, are well-appreciated worldwide.[1][2][3][4][5] It has been compared to past global sports rivalries such as the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing, the Roger Federer–Rafael Nadal rivalry and the Björn Borg–John McEnroe rivalry in tennis, and the Alain Prost–Ayrton Senna rivalry in Formula One motor racing.[6][7][8] Some commentators choose to analyse the differing physiques and playing styles of the two,[9] while part of the debate revolves around the contrasting personalities of the two players: Ronaldo is sometimes described as someone of temperamental character while Messi is portrayed as having a more reserved character.[10][11][12][13]

At club level, Messi and Ronaldo represented rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid for nearly a decade. The two players faced each other at least twice every season in the world's most popular regular-season club game, El Clásico (among the most viewed annual sporting events), from Ronaldo's arrival at Real in 2009 until his transfer to Italian club Juventus F.C. in 2018.[14][15] Off the field, they are also the face of two rival sportswear manufacturers, Messi of Adidas and Ronaldo of Nike, which are also the kit suppliers of their national teams and the opposite for their clubs.[16][17] The two highest-paid players in football, Messi and Ronaldo are among the world's best-paid sports stars in combined income from salaries, bonuses and off-field earnings. In 2018, Messi edged Ronaldo on Forbes' list of best-paid sportspeople, earning $111 million, with Ronaldo next at $108 million.[18] They have the two largest social media followings in the world among sportspeople with a combined over 250 million Facebook fans in 2020, Ronaldo is the most followed person on Facebook having over 150 million followers and Messi is 5th most followed person on Facebook having over 103 million followers. As well as a combined 424 million followers on Instagram as of December 2020, Ronaldo is the most followed person on Instagram, with over 250 million followers whilst Messi is the 7th most followed person in Instagram having 174 million followers. On Twitter, Ronaldo is the 5th most followed person with over 91 Million followers, while Messi does not have a Twitter Account.[19]

History

In 2007, Ronaldo and Messi finished as runners-up to A.C. Milan's Kaká in both the Ballon d'Or, an award rewarded to the player voted as the best in the world by an international panel of sports journalists; and the FIFA World Player of the Year, an award voted for by coaches and captains of international teams. In an interview that year, Messi was quoted as saying "Cristiano Ronaldo is an extraordinary player and it would be brilliant to be in the same team as him".[20][21]

They first played in a game against each other when Manchester United were drawn to play Barcelona in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League semi-finals and were immediately pitted as major rivals.[22][23][24] Ronaldo missed a penalty in the first leg,[25] but United eventually advanced to the final via a Paul Scholes goal.[26] At the end of the year, Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d'Or and vowed that he would win the award again.[27][28]

The 2009 UEFA Champions League Final was contested between Manchester United and Barcelona on 27 May 2009 at Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. The match, described as a "dream clash",[29] was again hyped as the latest battle between the two, this time to settle who was the best player in the world;[30][31] Ronaldo claimed he was the better of the two[32] while Messi's club-mate Xavi sided with him.[33] Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was more diplomatic, praising both players as being amongst the world's elite talents.[34][35] Messi, playing in a central role he was unaccustomed to so he would avoid a direct battle with Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra,[36] scored Barcelona's second in a 2–0 victory with a header in the 70th minute.[37] Meanwhile, Ronaldo was subdued for much of the game despite some early chances to score and his frustration eventually showed when he was booked for a rash tackle on Carles Puyol.[38][39]

From 2009 to 2018, they played against each other at least twice per season during El Clasico matches, but many times they met in other competitions like Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup and, in 2011, in a two-legged Champions League semifinal. Messi gained four consecutive Ballon d'Or awards (2009 to 2012) with a fifth coming in 2015, while Ronaldo had equalized the total wins by winning in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Since 2019 Messi takes the lead again thanks to his sixth edition won, with just 7 points more than van Dijk with Ronaldo placed third. In total, they reached the podium a record 12 times each. Messi won two Champions League while Ronaldo playing for Real Madrid, with the European securing four out of five between 2014 and 2018. Messi during this period won five Pichichi trophies and European Golden Shoe awards (2010, 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2018) while Ronaldo won these prizes thrice each (2011, 2014 and 2015). From 2009 to 2018, Ronaldo was the Champions League topscorer on six consecutive years with Messi achieving this feat four times.

Relationship between Messi and Ronaldo

In a 2015 interview, Ronaldo commented on the rivalry by saying that "I think we push each other sometimes in the competition, this is why the competition is so high"[40] while Ronaldo's manager during his time at Manchester United, Alex Ferguson, opined that "I don't think the rivalry against each other bothers them. I think they have their own personal pride in terms of wanting to be the best".[41] Messi has denied any rivalry, and blames the media for creating it: "only the media, the press, who wants us to be at loggerheads but I've never fought with Cristiano".[42]

In an interview Messi stated that there is no tension between him and Ronaldo and that it was fake news.

However, it is widely argued and documented that there's an atmosphere of tension between the duo, with Guillem Balagué claiming Ronaldo that refers to his Argentine counterpart as a "motherfucker" behind his back,[43][44] and Luca Caioli saying in his book, Ronaldo: The Obsession for Perfection, that, according to his sources, Ronaldo heats up when watching Messi play.[45] In response to claims that he and Messi do not get on well on a personal level, Ronaldo commented: "We don't have a relationship outside the world of football, just as we don't with a lot of other players", before adding that in years to come he hopes they can laugh about it together, stating: "We have to look on this rivalry with a positive spirit, because it's a good thing".[46] On 13 November 2014, Ronaldo also threatened to take legal action over the remarks made by Balagué.[47] After Ronaldo's departure from Real Madrid to Juventus, Messi admitted to missing him, saying: "I miss Cristiano. Although it was a bit difficult to see him win trophies, he gave La Liga prestige."[48] During a joint interview at the UEFA Player of the Year ceremony in 2019, Ronaldo said he would like to "have dinner together in the future". And Messi had a reply for that later "If I get an invitation, why not."[49]

Awards and records

Throughout the existence of the rivalry, the pair have dominated awards ceremonies and broken a multitude of goalscoring records for both club and country, feats which have been described as "incredible", "ridiculous" and "remarkable".[50][51][52] The rivalry itself has been described as one about records and reputation of the players, rather than one based in loathing.[53][54]

Messi is the all-time La Liga top scorer, as well as having the most assists in the competition's history – with Ronaldo in second for goals scored and in third for assists provided[55] – while Ronaldo is the UEFA Champions League all-time top goalscorer and assist provider, with Messi in second for both goals scored and assists provided in the competition's history. The two had broken each other's record over the course of 2015 after Messi surpassed the previous record holder Raúl in November 2014.[56] Ronaldo opened a gap in the 2015–16 season when he became the first player to score double figures in the group stage of the Champions League, setting the record at 11 goals.[57] They are the first two players to score 100 goals in UEFA Champions League history.[58]

They dominated the Ballon d'Or/The Best FIFA Men's Player awards since 2008, and UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award since 2014; however, in 2018 their roughly decade-long triumph was ended by Luka Modrić, seen as the "end of an era".[59][60][61] However, Modrić stated in an interview for the France Football that "history will say that a Croatian player, representing his small country, won the Ballon d'Or after Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who are players at another level. Nobody has the right to compare themselves to them". Since 2008, Messi has won six Ballons d'Or to Ronaldo's five,[62] six FIFA World's Best Player awards to Ronaldo's five, and six European Golden Shoes to Ronaldo's four.[63]

Collectively, Ronaldo has won 35 major trophies including seven league titles and five Champions Leagues, and guided Portugal to their first trophies UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2019 UEFA Nations League. He has also won four super cups cups, 4 league cups, six national super cups, two European Super Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups.

Messi has won a club record 33 major trophies as a Barcelona player, including ten league titles, four Champions Leagues, six Copa del Rey titles, sevenSpanish Super Cups, three European Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups. As for youth competitions, Messi won a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games held in China, and he had previously won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2005, being elected best player and top scorer of the tournament. Moreover, Messi was runner-up at three Copa Américas and at the 2014 World Cup, where he was named player of the tournament.

Player statistics

Club statistics

As of 3 February 2021

Lionel Messi Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals ——————————————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————————— Barcelona 2004–05 7 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 9 1 2005–06 17 6 2 1 6 1 0 0 25 8 2006–07 26 14 2 2 5 1 3 0 36 17 2007–08 28 10 3 0 9 6 0 0 40 16 2008–09 31 23 8 6 12 9 0 0 51 38 2009–10 35 34 3 1 11 8 4 4 53 47 2010–11 33 31 7 7 13 12 2 3 55 53 2011–12 37 50 7 3 11 14 5 6 60 73 2012–13 32 46 5 4 11 8 2 2 50 60 2013–14 31 28 6 5 7 8 2 0 46 41 2014–15 38 43 6 5 13 10 0 0 57 58 2015–16 33 26 5 5 7 6 4 4 49 41 2016–17 34 37 7 5 9 11 2 1 52 54 2017–18 36 34 6 4 10 6 2 1 54 45 2018–19 34 36 5 3 10 12 1 0 50 51 2019–20 33 25 2 2 8 3 1 1 44 31 2020–21 18 12 2 1 4 3 1 0 25 16 Total 503 456 77 54 147 118 29 22 756 650

Cristiano Ronaldo Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Sporting CP 2002–03 25 3 3 2 3 0 0 0 31 5 Manchester United 2003–04 29 4 6 2 5 0 0 0 40 6 2004–05 33 5 9 4 8 0 0 0 50 9 2005–06 33 9 6 2 8 1 0 0 47 7 2006–07 34 17 8 3 11 3 0 0 53 23 2007–08 34 31 3 3 11 8 1 0 49 42 2008–09 33 18 6 3 12 4 2 1 53 26 Real Madrid 2009–10 29 26 0 0 6 7 0 0 35 33 2010–11 34 40 8 7 12 6 0 0 54 53 2011–12 38 46 5 3 10 10 2 1 55 60 2012–13 34 34 7 7 12 12 2 2 55 55 2013–14 30 31 6 3 11 17 0 0 47 45 2014–15 35 48 2 1 12 10 5 2 54 61 2015–16 36 35 0 0 12 16 0 0 48 51 2016–17 29 25 2 1 13 12 2 4 46 65 2017–18 27 26 0 0 13 15 4 3 44 44 Juventus 2018–19 31 21 2 0 9 6 1 1 43 28 2019–20 33 31 4 2 8 4 1 0 46 37 2020–21 16 15 2 2 4 4 1 1 23 22 Total 593[lower-alpha 1] 465 79 45 180 135 21 15 873[lower-alpha 1] 660

Notes

1. Not including the second division matches (Sporting CP B, 2002–03).

International statistics

As of 31 December 2020

Lionel Messi[64] National team Year Competitive Friendly Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals ————————————————— ————————————————— Argentina 2005 3 0 2 0 5 0 2006 3 1 4 1 7 2 2007 10 4 4 2 14 6 2008 6 1 2 1 8 2 2009 8 1 2 2 10 3 2010 5 0 5 2 10 2 2011 8 2 5 2 13 4 2012 5 5 4 7 9 12 2013 5 3 2 3 7 6 2014 7 4 7 4 14 8 2015 6 1 2 3 8 4 2016 10 8 1 0 11 8 2017 5 4 2 0 7 4 2018 4 1 1 3 5 4 2019 6 1 4 4 10 5 2020 4 1 0 0 4 1 2021 Total 95 37 47 34 142 71[65]

Cristiano Ronaldo[66] National team Year Competitive Friendly Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Portugal 2003 0 0 2 0 2 0 2004 11 7 5 0 16 7 2005 7 2 4 0 11 2 2006 10 4 4 2 14 6 2007 9 5 1 0 10 5 2008 5 1 3 0 8 1 2009 5 0 2 1 7 1 2010 6 3 5 0 11 3 2011 6 5 2 2 8 7 2012 9 4 4 1 13 5 2013 6 7 3 3 9 10 2014 5 3 4 2 9 5 2015 4 3 1 0 5 3 2016 10 10 3 3 13 13 2017 10 10 1 1 11 11 2018 4 4 3 2 7 6 2019 10 14 0 0 10 14 2020 4 2 2 1 6 3 2021 Total 121 84 49 18 170 102[67]

Hat-tricks

As of 22 February 2020

Lionel Messi # For Against Result Competition Date 1 Barcelona Real Madrid 3–3 (H) 2006–07 La Liga 10 March 2007 2 Atlético Madrid 3–1 (A) 2008–09 Copa del Rey 6 January 2009 3 Tenerife 5–0 (A) 2009–10 La Liga 10 January 2010 4 Valencia 3–0 (H) 2009–10 La Liga 14 March 2010 5 Zaragoza 4–2 (A) 2009–10 La Liga 21 March 2010 6 Arsenal ^4 4–1 (H) 2009–10 UEFA Champions League 6 April 2010 7 Sevilla 4–0 (H) 2010 Supercopa de España 21 August 2010 8 Almería 8–0 (A) 2010–11 La Liga 20 November 2010 9 Real Betis 5–0 (H) 2010–11 Copa del Rey 12 January 2011 10 Atlético Madrid 3–0 (H) 2010–11 La Liga 5 February 2011 11 Osasuna 8–0 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 17 September 2011 12 Atlético Madrid 5–0 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 24 September 2011 13 Mallorca 5–0 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 29 October 2011 14 Viktoria Plzeň 4–0 (A) 2011–12 UEFA Champions League 1 November 2011 15 Málaga 4–1 (A) 2011–12 La Liga 22 January 2012 16 Valencia ^4 5–1 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 19 February 2012 17 Argentina Switzerland 3–1 (A) Friendly 29 February 2012 18 Barcelona Bayer Leverkusen ^5 7–1 (H) 2011–12 UEFA Champions League 7 March 2012 19 Espanyol ^4 4–0 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 20 March 2012 20 Granada 5–3 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 2 May 2012 21 Málaga 4–1 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 5 May 2012 22 Argentina Brazil 4–3 (N) Friendly 9 June 2012 23 Barcelona Deportivo La Coruña 5–4 (A) 2012–13 La Liga 20 October 2012 24 Osasuna ^4 5–1 (H) 2012–13 La Liga 27 January 2013 25 Argentina Guatemala 4–0 (A) Friendly 14 June 2013 26 Barcelona Valencia 3–2 (A) 2013–14 La Liga 1 September 2013 27 Ajax 4–0 (H) 2013–14 UEFA Champions League 18 September 2013 28 Osasuna 7–0 (H) 2013–14 La Liga 16 March 2014 29 Real Madrid 4–3 (A) 2013–14 La Liga 23 March 2014 30 Sevilla 5–1 (H) 2014–15 La Liga 22 November 2014 31 APOEL 4–0 (H) 2014–15 UEFA Champions League 25 November 2014 32 Espanyol 5–1 (H) 2014–15 La Liga 7 December 2014 33 Deportivo La Coruña 4–0 (A) 2014–15 La Liga 18 January 2015 34 Levante 5–0 (H) 2014–15 La Liga 15 February 2015 35 Rayo Vallecano 6–1 (H) 2014–15 La Liga 15 March 2015 36 Granada 4–0 (H) 2015–16 La Liga 9 January 2016 37 Valencia 7–0 (H) 2015–16 Copa del Rey 3 February 2016 38 Rayo Vallecano 5–1 (A) 2015–16 La Liga 3 March 2016 39 Argentina Panama 5–0 (N) Copa América Centenario 10 June 2016 40 Barcelona Celtic 7–0 (H) 2016–17 UEFA Champions League 13 September 2016 41 Manchester City 4–0 (H) 2016–17 UEFA Champions League 19 October 2016 42 Espanyol 5–0 (H) 2017–18 La Liga 9 September 2017 43 Eibar ^4 6–1 (H) 2017–18 La Liga 19 September 2017 44 Argentina Ecuador 3–1 (A) 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 10 October 2017 45 Barcelona Leganés 3–1 (H) 2017–18 La Liga 7 April 2018 46 Deportivo La Coruña 4–2 (A) 2017–18 La Liga 29 April 2018 47 Argentina Haiti 4–0 (H) Friendly 29 May 2018 48 Barcelona PSV Eindhoven 4–0 (H) 2018–19 UEFA Champions League 18 September 2018 49 Levante 5–0 (A) 2018–19 La Liga 16 December 2018 50 Sevilla 4–2 (A) 2018–19 La Liga 23 February 2019 51 Real Betis 4–1 (A) 2018–19 La Liga 17 March 2019 52 Celta Vigo 4–1 (H) 2019–20 La Liga 9 November 2019 53 Mallorca 5–2 (H) 2019–20 La Liga 7 December 2019 54 Eibar ^4 5–0 (H) 2019–20 La Liga 22 February 2020

Cristiano Ronaldo # For Against Result Competition Date 1 Manchester United Newcastle United 6–0 (H) 2007–08 Premier League 12 January 2008 2 Real Madrid Mallorca 4–1 (A) 2009–10 La Liga 5 May 2010 3 Racing Santander^4 6–1 (H) 2010–11 La Liga 23 October 2010 4 Athletic Bilbao 5–1 (H) 2010–11 La Liga 20 November 2010 5 Levante 8–0 (H) 2010–11 Copa del Rey 22 December 2010 6 Villarreal 4–2 (H) 2010–11 La Liga 9 January 2011 7 Málaga 7–0 (H) 2010–11 La Liga 3 March 2011 8 Sevilla ^4 6–2 (A) 2010–11 La Liga 7 May 2011 9 Getafe 4–0 (H) 2010–11 La Liga 10 May 2011 10 Zaragoza 6–0 (A) 2011–12 La Liga 28 August 2011 11 Rayo Vallecano ^4 6–2 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 24 September 2011 12 Málaga 4–0 (A) 2011–12 La Liga 22 October 2011 13 Osasuna 7–1 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 6 November 2011 14 Sevilla 6–2 (A) 2011–12 La Liga 17 December 2011 15 Levante 4–2 (H) 2011–12 La Liga 12 February 2012 16 Atlético Madrid 4–1 (A) 2011–12 La Liga 11 April 2012 17 Deportivo La Coruña 5–1 (H) 2012–13 La Liga 30 September 2012 18 Ajax 4–1 (A) 2012–13 UEFA Champions League 3 October 2012 19 Celta Vigo 4–0 (H) 2012–13 Copa del Rey 9 January 2013 20 Getafe 4–0 (H) 2012–13 La Liga 27 January 2013 21 Sevilla 4–1 (H) 2012–13 La Liga 9 February 2013 22 Portugal Northern Ireland 4–2 (A) 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 6 September 2013 23 Real Madrid Galatasaray 6–1 (A) 2013–14 UEFA Champions League 17 September 2013 24 Sevilla 7–3 (H) 2013–14 La Liga 30 October 2013 25 Real Sociedad 5–1 (H) 2013–14 La Liga 9 November 2013 26 Portugal Sweden 3–2 (A) 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification 19 November 2013 27 Real Madrid Deportivo La Coruña 8–2 (A) 2014–15 La Liga 20 September 2014 28 Elche ^4 5–1 (H) 2014–15 La Liga 23 September 2014 29 Athletic Bilbao 5–0 (H) 2014–15 La Liga 5 October 2014 30 Celta Vigo 3–0 (H) 2014–15 La Liga 6 December 2014 31 Granada ^5 9–1 (H) 2014–15 La Liga 5 April 2015 32 Sevilla 3–2 (A) 2014–15 La Liga 2 May 2015 33 Espanyol 3–1 (A) 2014–15 La Liga 17 May 2015 34 Getafe 7–3 (H) 2014–15 La Liga 23 May 2015 35 Portugal Armenia 3–2 (A) UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying 13 June 2015 36 Real Madrid Espanyol ^5 6–0 (A) 2015–16 La Liga 12 September 2015 37 Shakhtar Donetsk 4–0 (H) 2015–16 UEFA Champions League 15 September 2015 38 Malmö FF ^4 8–0 (H) 2015–16 UEFA Champions League 8 December 2015 39 Espanyol 6–0 (H) 2015–16 La Liga 31 January 2016 40 Celta Vigo ^4 7–1 (H) 2015–16 La Liga 5 March 2016 41 VfL Wolfsburg 3–0 (H) 2015–16 UEFA Champions League 12 April 2016 42 Portugal Andorra ^4 6–0 (H) 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 7 October 2016 43 Real Madrid Alavés 4–1 (A) 2016–17 La Liga 29 October 2016 44 Atlético Madrid 3–0 (A) 2016–17 La Liga 19 November 2016 45 Kashima Antlers 4–2 (N) 2016 FIFA Club World Cup 18 December 2016 46 Bayern Munich 4–2 (H) 2016–17 UEFA Champions League 18 April 2017 47 Atlético Madrid 3–0 (H) 2016–17 UEFA Champions League 2 May 2017 48 Portugal Faroe Islands 5–1 (H) 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification 31 August 2017 49 Real Madrid Real Sociedad 5–2 (H) 2017–18 La Liga 10 February 2018 50 Girona ^4 6–3 (H) 2017–18 La Liga 18 March 2018 51 Portugal Spain 3–3 (N) 2018 FIFA World Cup 15 June 2018 52 Juventus Atlético Madrid 3–0 (H) 2018–19 UEFA Champions League 12 March 2019 53 Portugal Switzerland 3–1 (H) 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals 5 June 2019 54 Lithuania ^4 5–1 (A) UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying 10 September 2019 55 Lithuania 6–0 (H) UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying 14 November 2019 56 Juventus Cagliari 4–0 (H) 2019–20 Serie A 6 January 2020

^{4 or 5} Player scored 4 or 5 goals

Head-to-head

In past years, it has been said that the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona has been "encapsulated" by the individual rivalry between Ronaldo and Messi,[68][69] with there never being a goalless El Clásico between the two.[70]

Legend

Final

Semi-final

No.	Date	Competition	Home team	Away team	Score	Goals scored by the duo
1	23 April 2008	Champions League	Barcelona	Manchester United	0–0
2	29 April 2008	Champions League	Manchester United	Barcelona	1–0
3	27 May 2009	Champions League	Barcelona	Manchester United	2–0	Messi ( 70')
4	29 November 2009	La Liga	Barcelona	Real Madrid	1–0
5	10 April 2010	La Liga	Real Madrid	Barcelona	0–2	Messi ( 33')
6	29 November 2010	La Liga	Barcelona	Real Madrid	5–0
7	9 February 2011	Friendly	Argentina	Portugal	2–1	Ronaldo ( 21'), Messi ( 90' (pen.))
8	16 April 2011	La Liga	Real Madrid	Barcelona	1–1	Messi ( 51' (pen.)), Ronaldo ( 81' (pen.))
9	20 April 2011	Copa del Rey	Real Madrid	Barcelona	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Ronaldo ( 103')
10	27 April 2011	Champions League	Real Madrid	Barcelona	0–2	Messi ( 76', 87')
11	3 May 2011	Champions League	Barcelona	Real Madrid	1–1
12	14 August 2011	Supercopa de España	Real Madrid	Barcelona	2–2	Messi ( 45')
13	17 August 2011	Supercopa de España	Barcelona	Real Madrid	3–2	Ronaldo ( 20'), Messi ( 53', 88')
14	10 December 2011	La Liga	Real Madrid	Barcelona	1–3
15	18 January 2012	Copa del Rey	Real Madrid	Barcelona	1–2	Ronaldo ( 11')
16	25 January 2012	Copa del Rey	Barcelona	Real Madrid	2–2	Ronaldo ( 68')
17	21 April 2012	La Liga	Barcelona	Real Madrid	1–2	Ronaldo ( 73')
18	23 August 2012	Supercopa de España	Barcelona	Real Madrid	3–2	Ronaldo ( 55'), Messi ( 70' (pen.))
19	29 August 2012	Supercopa de España	Real Madrid	Barcelona	2–1	Ronaldo ( 19'), Messi ( 45')
20	7 October 2012	La Liga	Barcelona	Real Madrid	2–2	Ronaldo ( 23', 66'), Messi ( 31', 61')
21	30 January 2013	Copa del Rey	Real Madrid	Barcelona	1–1
22	26 February 2013	Copa del Rey	Barcelona	Real Madrid	1–3	Ronaldo ( 12' (pen.), 57')
23	2 March 2013	La Liga	Real Madrid	Barcelona	2–1	Messi ( 18')
24	26 October 2013	La Liga	Barcelona	Real Madrid	2–1
25	23 March 2014	La Liga	Real Madrid	Barcelona	3–4	Messi ( 42', 65' (pen.), 84' (pen.)), Ronaldo ( 55' (pen.))
26	25 October 2014	La Liga	Real Madrid	Barcelona	3–1	Ronaldo ( 35' (pen.))
27	18 November 2014	Friendly	Argentina	Portugal	0–1
28	22 March 2015	La Liga	Barcelona	Real Madrid	2–1	Ronaldo ( 31')
29	21 November 2015	La Liga	Real Madrid	Barcelona	0–4
30	2 April 2016	La Liga	Barcelona	Real Madrid	1–2	Ronaldo ( 85')
31	3 December 2016	La Liga	Barcelona	Real Madrid	1–1
32	23 April 2017	La Liga	Real Madrid	Barcelona	2–3	Messi ( 33', 90+2')
33	13 August 2017	Supercopa de España	Barcelona	Real Madrid	1–3	Messi ( 77' (pen.)), Ronaldo ( 80')
34	23 December 2017	La Liga	Real Madrid	Barcelona	0–3	Messi ( 64' (pen.))
35	6 May 2018	La Liga	Barcelona	Real Madrid	2–2	Ronaldo ( 14'), Messi ( 52')
36	8 December 2020	Champions League	Barcelona	Juventus	0–3	Ronaldo ( 13' (pen.), 52' (pen.))

Head-to-head summary

Competition	Games played	Messi wins	Ronaldo wins	Draws	Messi goals	Ronaldo goals
La Liga	18	10	4	4	12	9
Champions League	6	2	2	2	3	2
Copa del Rey	5	1	2	2	0	5
Supercopa de España	5	2	2	1	6	4
Friendly	2	1	1	0	1	1
Total	36	16	11	9	22	21

Last updated 8 December 2020

See also

• List of association football rivalry players

References

Notes

Citations

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