It\u2019s been well over a decade that the debate over who\u2019s better, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, has been continually raging. Sir Alex Ferguson \u2013 although clearly stating then in 2015 that he believed that Messi\u2019s supremacy as a player is indubitable \u2013 however believed that Ronaldo, and not Messi, could score a hat-trick for any club much more easily \u2013 possibly alluding to his ability to adapt much quicker to conditions anywhere whereas Messi was always known as a one-club Barcelona man prior to his joining Paris Saint-Germain in the recent summer.<\/p>\n
Back in 2015 when Sir Alex Ferguson weighed in on the Messi vs Ronaldo debate and made n outright assessment, at a casual glance, he seemed to favor the Portuguese. But that might not have been the case, depending from which perspective it is viewed.<\/p>\n
Speaking to legendary former snooker player John Parrott at that point in time, Ferguson discussed the Ronaldo vs Messi debate.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople say who is the best player in the world?\u00a0And plenty of people quite rightly say Messi \u2013 you can\u2019t dispute that opinion<\/strong><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut Ronaldo could play for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Doncaster Rovers\u2026 anyone, and score a hat-trick in a game. [But] I\u2019m not sure Messi could do it. Ronaldo\u2019s got two feet, quick, great in the air, brave \u2026 Messi\u2019s brave of course. I think Messi is a Barcelona player, you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n For years, Ferguson\u2019s sneaky jab – inevitable due to the obdurate streak of pure Manchester United ego – that Messi was a Barcelona player had always been highly questionable. Messi\u2019s excellence and pre-eminence in the game could never ever be questioned or doubted, and, by choice, he remained at Barcelona, while Ronaldo skipped like a chirpy grasshopper from Real Madrid to Juventus, and now back to Manchester United again, happily sowing his wild football oats. However, now that Messi has made his way to Paris Saint-Germain, Ferguson\u2019s assertion that Messi is just a Barcelona player can maybe be put to the test finally to weigh Fergie\u2019s straddled assessment of both luminaries.<\/p>\n Yet why did Fergie make the clear admission that \u201c<\/em>\u2026 and plenty of people quite rightly say Messi \u2013 you can\u2019t dispute that opinion <\/em>\u2026\u201d <\/em>when asked who was the better player but at the same time harbored the doubt that the Argentine could score a hat-trick at any club as easily as readily as Ronaldo? Could this be a case of ambivalence where the legendary manager is concerned, which would be highly unlikely as he is too elitist a manager to harbor vagaries in this manner. <\/em><\/p>\n Messi and Ronaldo have dominated European football for so long that it\u2019s hard to remember a time when either one of them wasn\u2019t considered the best player in the world. From 2008 to 2019, Messi or Ronaldo won the Ballon d\u2019Or\u00a0every season except for 2018, when Luka Modric claimed the prize. The two men are first and second in all-time Ballon d\u2019Ors, with Messi\u2019s six and Ronaldo’s five.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not hard to understand why the two took turns being crowned the best player in Europe. In seventeen seasons with Barcelona, Messi tallied 627 goals and 252 assists in 714 matches. Ronaldo, in 20 seasons between four clubs, tallied 628 goals and 182 assists in 813 matches. Goal scoring at that level has never been matched for such an extended period of time.<\/p>\n Clearly, team-Ronaldo diehards are out of luck as Messi has scored nearly the same number of goals from almost one hundred fewer matches, and bests him in assists by 70<\/em>.<\/p>\n Of course, Ronaldo has again already proven that he can \u2013 like Fergie alleged then in 2015 \u2013 and score a hat-trick no matter where he plays, already finding the back of the net four times in four appearances for United this season.<\/p>\n Messi, on the contrary, at least for now, seems to be a tad slow in getting off the starting blocks to his PSG career. In three appearances, he has failed to score or set up a teammate. However, it has only been 190 minutes of action and once Argentine\u2019s high-octane performance heats up \u2013 coupled with teammates like Neymar and Mbappe \u2013 it wouldn\u2019t be long before Messi\u2019s goal-slamming exploits and assists are bound to hit new heights again. As a reminder, the Argentine was also slow in taking off at the beginning of his last season at Camp Nou. But when his rocket boosters came on, the rest was again history in the making.<\/p>\n Ronaldo\u2019s temporary hot kick-off is no doubt making Alex Ferguson look like the the harbinger of oracles. Yet, to be absolutely truthful, one wonders if he\u2019s still harboring grudges against Messi for what the latter did to overwhelmingly shatter United\u2019s dreams of glory in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League Finals. Those were, after all, really damaging blows to the Scot\u2019s reputation and left very distinct blemishes in an otherwise spotless CV.<\/p>\n \u201cRonaldo\u2019s got two feet, quick, great in the air, brave \u2026 Messi\u2019s brave of course\u2026\u201d <\/em>\u2013 the legendary United manager had said, understandably, as he obviously needed to show the world that the player he had spotted and chosen to lead his ranks in those early years was no putz or pushover either.<\/p>\n Fergie\u2019s reference to Ronaldo\u2019s being able to score with both feet and is also adept in aerial battles somehow smells oddly familiar, just like Pele\u2019s egoistic, and odious, disdain of Messi\u2019s single, left-legged scoring abilities and lack of dominance in the air due to his height. Well, when your left foot itself can conjure up such wondrous miracles, who needs the right?<\/p>\n