Comparing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s records against the Premier League ‘big six’
Some people argue that Lionel Messi can’t match his era-defining rival Cristiano Ronaldo because he didn’t play in the Premier League – but the Argentinian’s record against the top English clubs is solid evidence against that.
Despite never playing for a Premier League club, Messi only notched nine fewer goals and three fewer assists against English football’s ‘big six’ – Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool – than Ronaldo.
Ronaldo played over 50 times more against the Premier League’s ‘big six’ than Messi, having played in a grand total of eight Premier League campaigns across his two stints with Manchester United.
He also faced off against the Red Devils, the club where he developed into a Ballon d’Or winner, five times with Real Madrid and Juventus.
Ronaldo’s record of three goals in five outings against Manchester United is marginally better than his old foe, but Messi notched four goals in five games – including two Champions League final victories for Barcelona, the first of which was directly up against Ronaldo.
There’s always been a question over whether Messi could have done it on ‘a wet, windy night in Stoke’ but his record against the best sides in English football, routinely stepping up on Champions League nights against the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, certainly suggests he wouldn’t have struggled against teams lower down the table.
Messi’s biographer Guillem Balague explained why the ‘Stoke’ argument against Messi is nonsense.
“‘I asked Messi about people in England saying: ‘You would not do so well on a cold, wet night in Stoke’,” Balague told BBC 5 Live Sport a few years back.
“He said: ‘They should have seen the pitches I played on in Rosario and I was quite good there too’.”
Here’s how Messi and Ronaldo’s records compare against each and every ‘big six’ club, along with their overall records:
Manchester United
Cristiano Ronaldo
Games: 5
Goals: 3
Assists: 0
Goals + assists: 0
Penalties: 0
Free-kicks: 0
Minutes per goal: 122 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 122 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 122 ⭐
Lionel Messi
Games: 6
Goals: 4
Assists: 0
Goals + assists: 4
Penalties: 0
Free-kicks: 0
Minutes per goal: 128
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 128
Minutes per goal or assist: 128
Manchester City
Cristiano Ronaldo
Games: 15
Goals: 5
Assists: 1
Goals + assists: 6
Penalties: 1
Free-kicks: 1
Minutes per goal: 229
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 287
Minutes per goal or assist: 191
Lionel Messi
Games: 8
Goals: 7
Assists: 2
Goals + assists: 9
Penalties: 1
Free-kicks: 0
Minutes per goal: 102 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 120 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 80 ⭐
Arsenal
Cristiano Ronaldo
Games: 18
Goals: 9
Assists: 1
Goals + assists: 10
Penalties: 2
Free-kicks: 1
Minutes per goal: 173
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 223
Minutes per goal or assist: 156
Lionel Messi
Games: 6
Goals: 9
Assists: 1
Goals + assists: 10
Penalties: 2
Free-kicks: 0
Minutes per goal: 59 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 76 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 53 ⭐
Liverpool
Cristiano Ronaldo
Games: 14
Goals: 3
Assists: 1
Goals + assists: 4
Penalties: 1
Free-kicks: 0
Minutes per goal: 378
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 568
Minutes per goal or assist: 284
Lionel Messi
Games: 4
Goals: 2
Assists: 0
Goals + assists: 2
Penalties: 0
Free-kicks: 1
Minutes per goal: 180 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 180 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 180 ⭐
Chelsea
Cristiano Ronaldo
Games: 17
Goals: 2
Assists: 2
Goals + assists: 4
Penalties: 0
Free-kicks: 0
Minutes per goal: 667
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 667
Minutes per goal or assist: 333
Lionel Messi
Games: 10
Goals: 3
Assists: 3
Goals + assists: 6
Penalties: 0
Free-kicks: 0
Minutes per goal: 278 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 278 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 139 ⭐
Tottenham
Cristiano Ronaldo
Games: 20
Goals: 14
Assists: 4
Goals + assists: 18
Penalties: 4
Free-kicks: 0
Minutes per goal: 107
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 150
Minutes per goal or assist: 83
Lionel Messi
Games: 2
Goals: 2
Assists: 0
Goals + assists: 2
Penalties: 0
Free-kicks: 0
Minutes per goal: 58 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 58 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 58 ⭐
Overall
Cristiano Ronaldo
Games: 89
Goals: 36
Assists: 9
Goals + assists: 45
Penalties: 8
Free-kicks: 2
Minutes per goal: 195
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 251
Minutes per goal or assist: 156
Lionel Messi
Games: 36
Goals: 27
Assists: 6
Goals + assists: 33
Penalties: 3
Free-kicks: 1
Minutes per goal: 114 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 128 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 93 ⭐
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