If there is one debate that rages on today is the question of who is the best footballer now and of all time. In reality, football fans are lucky to be alive in the current era as we are so spoilt to have the pleasure of watching Ronaldo and Messi every week. However, a closer look at the statistics shows that Ronaldo is not only the greatest player alive today but the greatest of all time.
Scoring over 50 goals in 6 consecutive seasons
Ronaldo has played most of his career in the top leagues of Europe. To score 50 goals a season in one of these leagues is incredible. To do it for 6 seasons in a row is sensational. Messi has managed the feat in three consecutive seasons. To put this feat in perspective Mo Salah scored 44 goals in his best season to date and received worldwide acclaim. Ronaldo has done better than this for 6 years in a row.
Scoring more than 10 goals in the Champions League for 7 consecutive seasons
While you could argue that there a lot of weak teams in the Spanish and Italian League, helping Ronaldo to score goals against easy opposition, the same can not be said of the Champions League. At most a team plays 13 Champions League games a season. To score 10 goals 7 years in a row shows a clear dominance of the game.
Scoring 17 Champions League goals in 1 season
If ten a year was not enough Ronaldo also holds the record for most goals in one season, 17. Not only this but he scored 16 and 15 goals in two other seasons so he actually holds the top three spots with Messi languishing in 4th spot with 14 goals.
Most international goals for a European nation
To be truly regarded as the greatest you have to be able to do it on the world stage for both your club and country. Ronaldo has shown he can break numerous records across a number of clubs, but also for his country. Ronaldo has scored 85 goals for Portugal to date and has not stopped yet. He could break the record for all-time international goals (109) before he retires.
Clearly Ronaldo is head and shoulders above every other player when it comes to the records he has broken. He is a goal-scoring machine. While Messi clearly has incredible skills he can not single-handedly change the face of a game the way Ronaldo can.
