Messi/Ronaldo - Who's the Best??

I start with congratulating Cristiano Ronaldo for his 5th Ballon D'or win and squaring Messi's record. For over 11 years the rivalry was on, comparing them both and assessing who's the best. Few might have got answers, few might take sides but many are still searching for the answer. Here on this special occasion when C. Ronaldo has equaled Messi's record, I try to bring my point of view on who's the best...

1. C. Ronaldo has won Ballon D'or with 2 teams that plays football in a different style. He has won with Manchester United (1) and Real Madrid (4). Messi has been a one man club so far. Ronaldo 1 - 0 Messi

2. Messi enjoys ball throughout the game. Barcelona is a Messi centered club with Guardiola being the reason to find Messi's talent in scoring goals. Since then he has been a goal scoring machine for the club. At times he's also involved in the midfield trying to help him all the way from a long distance, taking long runs, beating defenders and scoring himself when there's no good help from his team mates. With Messi having most of the possession he's likely to score more goals than any other player. Ronaldo however has limited share on the ball. He's mostly near the goal post waiting for the ball. There has been very few occasions where he takes the ball from the middle of the field and converting them to goals. Ronaldo 1 - 1 Messi

3. Messi needs great midfielders like Xavi and Iniesta to pass the ball. They have been one of the primary reasons for his success. With the likes of Pedro, Suarez and Neymar on the flanks/wings, he gets the ball passed to him and he converts them to goals with ease. Xavi and Iniesta have been the primary architects in Messi's success. Their accurate passes has helped the club a lot to win games. Ronaldo too gets help from the wings but the players are not as great as the likes of Xavi and Iniesta. Ronaldo relies on himself for goals. Ronaldo 2 - 1 Messi

4. Dribbling skills - there's no doubt that Messi is a great dribbler than Ronaldo. He can get the ball from anywhere on the field and go past the defenders with ease while Ronaldo always seeks for a contact and be fouled. Ronaldo 2 - 2 Messi

5. Free Kicks and Penalty conversions - Both are good. Ronaldo 3 - 3 Messi

6. Ronaldo is good with scoring goals using both feat while Messi relies on his strong left foot. 

Ronaldo 4 - 3 Messi

7. Messi creates lots of penalty chances for his team while Ronaldo creates less chances. 

Ronaldo 4 - 4 Messi

8. Both haven't scored much header goals. Ronaldo 4 - 4 Messi

9. Ronaldo is good with country. He leads them strong. He has won Euro cup. Messi is still 

seeking for glory with country. He needs good players to support him. However Ronaldo despite being a sole hope has led his country to victory on most occasions. Ronaldo 5 - 4 Messi

10. It is an absolute delight to watch Messi play. Without Messi Barcelona haven't had much impact on games whereas Real Madrid still have players who can score goals in Ronaldo's absence. Messi's reliance is high when compared to Ronaldo. Ronaldo 5 - 5 Messi

11. Messi is a good team player. He supports them and gels well. Ronaldo gets frustrated when things don't go his way. Ronaldo 5 - 6 Messi

12. Goal conversion rate - Ronaldo has more accuracy slightly ahead of Messi. Ronaldo 6 - 6 Messi

Though almost both are equal, the debate will still be on who's the best. As a Messi fan, I'd say Messi is the best for him being a good team player and his importance with the club. However Ronaldo's fierce strength will continue to prove that wrong. It is like an unstoppable force hitting an immovable object. For me as a Messi fan, he's the best but CR7 fans will see it otherwise. Meanwhile it is best to enjoy these 2 great footballers ever both being powerful goal scoring machines.