Messi and Ronaldo competed as the top 2 player between 2007 and 2019 with Messi winning 6 Ballon'd Or and Ronaldo 5. However, at 2026 I think the gap is bigger than it has ever been Their last 2 matches proved it, Messi still elite playmaker and finisher at 39 and the only decline is lost of acceleration but the magic is still ther and thus he is still a world class player which is why you don't see Argentineans asking Messi to get benched Cristiano on the other side seems like an average footballer, can't finish as good as he used to be, has lost all of his speed and he basically can't playmake so he ends up not offering much things these days. Like, I personally think Ferran Torres is a better football than current CR7 which is a crazy thing to say Like, I don't think Messi and CR7 were ever this far apart, before they were always top players but right now Messi is still top player while Ronaldo is an average player that shouldn't even be starting for Portugal and only does it due to status and Ronaldo's ego   submitted by   /u/Comprehensive_Cup497 [link]   [comments]