3 Records Of Cristiano Ronaldo That Have Been Passed By Lionel Messi This Season, So Who Is The Best?

Lionel Messi (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo are always involved in competition. (Photo: Twitter @championsleague)

JAKARTA - It is undeniable that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the two most successful football players today. It was proven that both of them were able to win a total of 12 Ballon d'Or.

Messi won seven of them, while Ronaldo collected five.

To that end, the argument about who is best between the two seems endless. In fact, it could continue to be debated among fans over the years to come.

Of the number of goals scored, trophies won, and individual records, Ronaldo and Messi have always competed with each other. However, this season Ronaldo is not yet at his best.

The Portugal international had a slow start by scoring just three goals and one assist in 14 games. On the other hand, Messi performed brilliantly with French giant Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).

The player nicknamed La Pulga has outstanding this season. He has recorded 11 goals and 12 assists in various competitions so far.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo's absence from the European Champions League and a slow start this season have allowed Messi to pass several of his record for the Portugal international.

Here are the three Ronaldo records that Messi has followed, as reported by various sources:

At the start of this season, Messi and Ronaldo were on record for scoring goals against different goals in the European Champions League. In total they have both done it against 38 different teams in the most elite interclub competition.

However, La Pulga is now ahead of his rival after breaking into Maccabi Haifa's goal on September 15. Ronaldo's attempt to return to pursue this record could also be done next season if Manchester United qualified for the competition.

Ronaldo and Messi are the two players with the highest number of goals in football history. CR7 currently leads with 818 goals, while PSG stars have 785 goals in careers.

However, Messi, who is a former Barcelona captain, actually took the lead over Ronaldo in terms of scoring non-victim goals. Both players drew for non-victim goals (671) at the start of the 2022/2023 season, but Messi then surpassed Ronaldo when he scored PSG's winning goal against Olympique Lyon on September 18.

Messi currently has 681 non-victim goals or eight more than Ronaldo who scored 673 non-victim goals. Meanwhile, Ronaldo's penalty was at 145 goals, while Messi was 104 goals.

Ronaldo's absence from the European Champions League has provided room for Messi to close the gap and overtake him on several records in the competition.

The seven-time Ballon d' striker winner recently outperformed his rival in terms of a goal from outside the penalty box in the European Champions League (23 goals). Messi was also one goal ahead of Ronaldo who had scored 22 goals from outside the opponent's penalty box.

Messi achieved this feat when he scored PSG's fourth goal in a 7-2 win over Maccabi Haifa recently.