Messi vs. Ronaldo – Still got a favourite?

Yes, the question might hurt but in reality, the Goat’s of modern football are on the verge of extinction. At the start of the season, both the players switched their clubs and took on a brand new challenge. Messi finally left his home, FC Barcelona and joined the French giants Paris Saint Germain while Ronaldo returned back to his home at Manchester United to take the challenge of the Premier League. Did they impress everyone and bring back their past glory? Well, that’s where the question lies!

When Messi joined Paris from Barcelona, his fans were obviously sad but one thing was confirmed that the little Magician will score a lot of goals and assist and if things go well, Paris should win their maiden Champions League title? Reality struck and Messi’s first season at the French Capital can be considered a dreadful one. Winning Ligue1 is nothing special for Paris. The kind of squad they have, even their B team can challenge for the team. Messi in his debut season scored just 4 goals for his new team so far and the season is almost over for them. The player who won Ballon D’or for his performance in the previous season not just struggled but fell on his face at Paris Saint Germain.

System! System is a very key word when you describe Messi. Lewandowski in a press conference even said that Messi is a kind of player who needs a system to play well. Now whether it’s correct or not, we are not qualified enough to judge but results may speak in Lewandowski’s favour. He was booed by PSG fans when Real Madrid knocked them out of the Champions League and no one’s quite sure whether Messi is happy with his new life or not! No one can rule out a possible return to Camp Nou but as of now, Messi is a ghost of his former self.

Coming to Ronaldo, the boy that’s made in Manchester returned to his old club and when all the pundits claimed that this will change United, the club fell on his face. Absolute shambolic performance from the players killed the club in a way and the team is fighting for a Champions League spot right now. With three new signings in the form of Varane, Sancho and Ronaldo, United planned to go for glory this season. According to Gary Neville, United were one of the favourites but in reality, things are quite different.

The 21-times Premier League Champions are a shadow of their past. Scott McTominay in a recent interview spoke how things need to change at the club but who will? A new manager in the form of Erik Ten Hag might bring something new to Old Trafford but what about Cristiano Ronaldo?

His return has been poor as well. He was brought to challenge for the title and do well in the Champions League but despite his best efforts, he couldn’t. He is the third highest scorer in the Premier League but there’s a lot of room for improvement. Maybe he didn’t have great teammates by his side or maybe his coach isn’t a fan of him but despite all this, Ronaldo failed to capitalise on his return. The truth however will always be that at 37, you can’t expect so much from him, but at the end of the day, all people see is how good the player has been!

This blog isn’t to disrespect anyone. Both the Goats are the face of modern football and on their day, no one is safe. However, football is changing right now. With the introduction of Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and others, Messi and Ronaldo seem old school. Even after all this, never forget that these two can come back strongly and teach everyone a lesson. Something that they have been doing for the last 15 years.