The Battle for Ballon d’or – Messi vs CR7

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May 31, 2012 by Archy

 

Last season we saw them battle it out once again for the top prize in football. With the rivalry growing more intense than ever, both enjoyed a successful season indivually and as a team. But who is ahead in the race for the most prestigious individual trophy in Football.

For starters, lets have a look at the statistics of the past season as a whole-

 

Player	Apps	Goals	Assists	Hatricks
L.Messi	59	73	28	10
C.Ronaldo	54	60	15	7

Having a quick look at it – Messi has a substantial lead in almost all of them. Adding to it the honours Messi has won – The Spanish Super Cup, European Super Cup, Copa Del Rey, Club World Cup, European golden shoe and the Ballond’or, a total of six against one of C. Ronaldo – the Liga BBVA.

Taking into account the 2010-11 statistics we have –

Player	Apps	Goals	Assists
L.Messi	55	53	24
C.Ronaldo	54	53	13

 

Messi has always been a step ahead of Ronaldo in terms of Statistics, the team game of Barcelona helping Messi to conjure a greater assist count than his counterpart. Also in the 2011-12 season Messi had won more trophies than in 2010-11 but they were the Champions league, La Liga, Spanish Super cup and the Ballon d’or. All the top cups against CR7’s European golden shoe and the Copa del Rey.

So how do we judge this years Ballond’or winner? Based on the weightage of the trophy they have won ? Or on the weightage of the goals scored? Based on their crucial performances to win trophies we will be assigning points with +1 for minor cups and +2 for major cups, +0.5 for personal milestones and another +0.5 for inspiring performances.

The Points Game

Messi started the season against his Real Madrid compatriot in the Spanish Super cup scoring three and setting up two in a 5-4 aggregate win over Madrid. Ronaldo touched the century milestone with Real Madrid as he scored an equaliser in the second leg. So based on weightage of goals/team contribution thats a +1 for Messi with Ronaldo failing to lead his team to victory despite a decent performance earning him a +0.5. Next the European Super Cup which unfortunately CRron had no part to play. Messi scored one himself and set up another for a 2-0 win against Porto. So thats another +1 for Messi. Messi and Ronaldo both terrorised defences with their hatricks and braces till december with Messi adding another World Class display to his resume scoring a brace in the Club World Cup final. He was later decalred the Man of the Match and was awarded the Golden Ball for the tournament. So thats another plus for Messi. ( Cron come on !buckle up !, the little boy is running away with all the honours ). Thats exactly what CR7 did scoring the opener against Barcelona in the first leg of the Copa Del Rey quarter finals but his team failed to capitalise as the Catalans came back to win 2-1. The 2^nd leg again saw Ronaldo scoring a goal with Messi providing the assist for Barcelona’s first. Based on the performances Ronaldo just tipped Messi over the two legs . A +0.5 for Ronaldo, despite a great performance failed to see the team over the finish line. Come March and both were again at it at breaking records with Messi being the first to score five in a Champions League match and also surpassing Cesar Rodriquez as Barcelona’s all time top scorer. +0.5+(+0.5) for 2 milestones. Ronaldo became the fastest to reach 100 goals in La Liga and this 100^th goal meant Real Madrid were 10 points up in the title race. Considering the fact that Messi failed to perform in Barcelona’s away matches resulting in draws another +1 for Mr CR7. Messi then scored 2 against Milan to tie José Altafini’s record of 14 goals in a single European Cup season in the 1962–63 season. He also finished the Champions League top scorer for the season but missed a crucial penalty agaisnt Chelsea in the semi-finals which led to their elimination. For tieing Jose Altafini a +0.5 for Messi because eventually it meant nothing to the team. Ronaldo also was uninspiring against Bayern Munich missing an easy one-one in the first leg. And although he scored a brace in the 2^nd leg putting Real back in contention, he then went on to miss a crucial penalty in the shootout which led to Real’s elimination. So no points gained there. Ronaldo then went on to score the all important goal against Barcelona in the league to clinh the La Liga title trumping Messi for the first time in La Liga.

A +2(major trophy) for CR7. On 2 May, Messi scored a hat-trick against Malaga surpassing Gerd Muller’s record (67 goals in 1972-73) with 68 goals, and thus becoming the best goalscorer in history in one season in Europe. He then scored four goals on 5 May against Espanyol to take his tally to an unprecedented 72 goals, in the process becoming only the second player to pass 70 goals in a first division season since Archie Stark of Bethlehem Steel in the American Soccer League in 1924–25. Since these goals just meant personal milestones a+0.5 for Leo. Ronaldo also set a record of scoring against all the other 19 teams in La Liga becoming the first person to do so. A +1 for Ronaldo because all these goals actually helped Real clinch the title.

On 25 May, Mess scored again in the 2012 Copa Del Rey final, helping Barcelona win their 26th Spanish Cup title, and increasing his seasonal goalscoring record to an unmatched 73 goals in all competitions. A +1 here for Messi.

Adding the points tally here we come up with +6 for Messi and +4 for Ronaldo. Considering the weightage of goals scored and the trophy won does the La Liga trump both the supercups, the club world cup, the copa del rey and the European Golden boot? No would be the closest answer but its a really tough call to make. Although Messi managed to finish top scorer in both the competitions, failing to perform in crucial stages in the Liga and the Champions League could prove pivotal in deciding the Ballond’or winner. As Messi gained advantage over Ronaldo in the European SuperCup and the Club World Cup, impressing in the Euro’s is a perfect opportunity for Ronaldo to silence his critics and clinch the Ballond’or. But considering the present scenario and all the Records broken, Messi is a fraction of a sec ahead in the race for Ballond’or.