There are events that bring people together, and there are other events, and sometimes even people, that separate them instead. As Shakespeare created the two irreconcilable families of Montagues and Capulets, so did the phenomenon of football spawn two camps that will always be at odds: the fans of Messi, and those of Ronaldo.
They are currently, without a doubt, the two best players on the planet. You could argue that names such as Lewandowski, Jorginho, Benzema, Mbappé, and many others are on their tail. But even if that were true, it could be so for one or two seasons. These two have climbed the summit and remained there for the past ten years. Ronaldo started playing football professionally in 2002 and got his first Ballon d'Or six years later. Messi’s professional career started a year later, and he was awarded the prize of best player on the planet six years afterwards, same as Ronaldo. Ronaldo will turn 37 in February, Messi will celebrate his 35th four months later. Messi is a seven-time winner of the Ballon d'Or award, Ronaldo has two less.
LIONEL
This Argentinian started his professional career in FC Barcelona. He started playing for the junior team in 2001, his A team debut came in October 2004, and he scored his first senior career goal in May 2005 when he was just a bit shy of 18 years of age. He was such a strong new talent that Barcelona offered him a new deal just three months after signing the initial one – this one for a whopping ten years.
Off to Spain
The first time this Rosario native came into contact with a football was in the Grandoli club, coached by his father. Starting in 1994, he played for Newell's Old Boys for six years, a club that is still a part of Argentina’s major league to this day, and where Maradona also played for a year in 1993. The famed River Plate took an interest in Messi around that time, but something threw a wrench in their plans. In 1998, the doctors diagnosed Messi with growth hormone insufficiency (due to only being 170 cm tall, he was called La Pulga, or The Flea). His family could not afford treatment, but along came the Barcelona coach and headhunter, Carles Rexach, who offered Messi a transfer, a move to Spain, and to cover the entire cost of the treatment. A year after he first donned the jersey of this Catalonian hegemony, Lionel became a Spanish citizen, so as far his his club was concerned, he was Spanish, but he still played for the Argentinian national team.
Off to France
Messi spent 20 years in Barcelona, winning 34 titles, and putting himself down as the undisputed club-record goal scorer. Then came 2021, and the club’s financial issues came to a head, resulting in Messi’s first-ever competitive transfer. He came to France on August 10 as a free agent and signed a two-year deal with an option for an extra year with Paris Saint-Germain. This French team bought itself a very luxurious gift to commemorate its 51st birthday, almost to the day. They did not have to pay anything for Messi initially, but his yearly pay comes up to roughly 35 million euros. Luckily, the French club can afford him. In 2020, Qatar Airways became the premium partner of the club for a period of three years with the potential to extend the partnership, which helped the budget of this team that is currently dominating Ligue 1 immensely. Messi’s debut PSG match was on August 29, and he scored his first goal on November 20, in Round 14, against Nantes.
Private life
Messi had several partners throughout the years (Argentinian model, Luciana Salazar, among others). He ended up tying the knot with Antonella Rocuzzo, from his home town of Rosario. They met when he was five years old, she was the cousin of his best friend, and they got together years later. They started living together in 2008, their son Thiago was born five years after that, and another one, Mateo, came along in 2016. They got married in 2017.
RONALDO
This Portuguese native went through four different clubs during his professional career. In 2002, he started in Sporting, which he left after a year and having played 27 matches, transferring to Manchester United, where he stayed for six years. He then got “reeled in” by Real Madrid, where he spent a good nine years. Then he played for Juventus for three years, ultimately heading back to Manchester this August.
Off to England
Ronaldo played his debut match for the Sporting A team on October 7, 2002, adding two goals to the total score of 3:0 over Moreirense. After Sporting defeated Manchester United in a friendly match in 2003, the English club’s manager, Alex Ferguson, jumped through hoops to acquire young Ronaldo. He succeeded, making Ronaldo the first Portuguese player to ever play for Manchester United. The transfer was a new record in his age category – a total of 12,24 million pounds. His debut match was on August 16, 2003, and his first goal came on November 1, 2003. His last went in on May 10, 2009.
Off to Spain
In the summer of 2009, Ronaldo headed to the Spanish megaclub, Real Madrid, this time around for a sum of 80 million pounds. Immediately setting a new La Liga record in the 2010/2011 season by scoring a scorching 40 goals. In the following season, he was instrumental in helping Real dethrone Barcelona in a spectacular fashion: Real netted an unprecedented 100 points, with 121 goals scored, of which Ronaldo was responsible for 46. Not enough to beat the league’s best, however, which was... Lionel Messi with four more goals. Ronaldo kept up his incredible performances up until 2018 when he embarked on another leg of his journey.
Through Italy and back to England
In June 2018, he transferred to the Italian Juventus. The transfer cost 88,3 million pounds this time, with a monthly wage of 2 million pounds going directly to Ronaldo. In the 2018/2019 season, Ronaldo won the sixth league title of his career, making him the first-ever player to do so in England, Spain, and Italy. Two seasons later, he managed the same feat but with national titles. On August 27 of this year, he announced he was parting with Juventus and returning to Manchester United. That is where, on December 2, in a match against Arsenal, he scored his 800th career goal, putting him in second place on official record sheets in all-time scored goals, behind only the Czech, Josef Bican.
Personal life
Ronaldo is well-known for being very disciplined in his workouts, nutrition, and healthy lifestyle in general. When he gets home from team training, he goes to work again based on a specifically tailored workout plan. He is just as strict when it comes to rest, he has a sleep coach to help him with a proper schedule. He eats six times a day, with fish being a big part of his diet. As for his love life, things were looking very promising with the Russian model, Irina Shayk, whom he was with for five years from 2010 to 2015. In the end, it was Georgina Rodriguez, who gave him a daughter, Alana Martina, in November 2017. But this is not his only offspring. He is the father of twins, Eva Marie and Mateo, as well as Cristiano Junior. All of his other children were borne by surrogate mothers, though.
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