Italy legend Francesco Totti settled the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2017. The Messi vs Ronaldo battle has been ensuing since the last 15 years, while the two players have excelled every single season.
Over the years, many players, coaches as well as pundits have taken sides in the Messi vs Ronaldo debate. Francesco Totti too joined them when Ronaldo won his fifth Ballon d’Or in 2017.
While Ronaldo is now plying his trade at Manchester United, and Messi at PSG the two stars competed against each other for 9 straight years in La Liga.
The two were absolute catalysts for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, further adding fuel to fire to the GOAT debate.
Francesco Totti claimed Ronaldo “Ahead of the others”
Ronaldo and Messi shared the center stage at the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA The Best, dominating the awards for a decade. Both have won a staggering 12 Ballon d’Ors and 3 FIFA The Best awards between them.
Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar were nominated for the Ballon d’Or in 2017, where the Portuguese emerged as the winner. The forward then completed the double of the Ballon d’Or and FIFA The Best award that year.
While at the Ballon d’or ceremony in 2017 Totti had said, “We are talking about three footballing aliens [Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar]. I think that, in the end, Ronaldo is ahead of the others. He had an amazing season and also accomplished all of his goals with the most prestigious of teams.”
Though Totti labelled the trio as ‘footballing aliens’, the former Roma player was clear that Ronaldo is ‘ahead’ of everybody else.
Ronaldo clinched his fifth Ballon d’Or and second FIFA The Best in 2017 after winning the Champions League, La Liga, UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
The striker had helped Real Madrid to the titles with 42 goals and 12 assists in 46 games, also winning the UEFA’s European Player of the Year title.
Messi had to settle at second in voting despite scoring 54 goals and assisting 20 in 52 games. The Argentine only had the Copa del Rey to show in 2017 with Barcelona.
Fast forward 5 years, Ronaldo and Messi are still delivering at the biggest stage. The United striker scored 24 goals last season whereas Messi finished with 11 goals and 15 assists.