Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have created the biggest personal rivalry of all time and the debate about who is better is not over yet.

The illustrious careers of these two outstanding stars are coming to an end as both have left top football. However, what they left behind for soccer fans is indelible. Together, they created many exciting confrontations and below are the 5 most classic matches when both were at their peak.

Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United – 27/05/2009

The Champions League final between the two giants at that time was also a battle between the two biggest stars in the world at that time. Ronaldo, in his final year at Man United, really wanted to win the C1 Cup for the second time in a row as a farewell gift to the fans, but he was not satisfied.

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Messi’s classic header in the 2009 C1 final.

Barca took the early lead thanks to Samuel Eto’o, and they ended the match thanks to the Argentine superstar. With about 20 minutes left in the match, Lionel Messi suddenly appeared in the penalty area to head the ball as placed by Xavi Hernandez into Edwin van der Sar’s net.

Barcelona 0-1 Real Madrid – 20/04/2011

This was the only Copa del Rey final between the duo and the first El Classico match in which Ronaldo tasted victory. Losing 3 and drawing 1 in the first 4 matches with Messi in Spain, the former Man United star showed great determination in this match.

 Ronaldo enjoys the joy of winning his first El Classico match.

Pep Guardiola’s Barca still dominated the ball control against Jose Mourinho’s Real for the entire 90 minutes, but Ronaldo shone with the decisive goal in extra time. The Portuguese star jumped highest to catch Angel Di Maria’s perfect pass and headed past Jose Pinto in the 103rd minute.

Barcelona 3-2 Real Madrid – 17/08/2011

After drawing the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup 2-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu, Barca needed to win at home in the second leg to be able to take the throne, and they did that. Andres Iniesta gave the home team the lead at Camp Nou but Cristiano Ronaldo leveled the scores just five minutes later.

 Messi surrounded by Real players.

The rest was Messi’s performance with a double, interspersed with a goal from Karim Benzema. This brilliant performance of the Argentine superstar helped Barca have a successful 2011 with 5 championships, and he himself also won the 3rd consecutive Golden Ball.

Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid – 21/04/2012

Los Blancos are currently leading La Liga with 4 points more than their big rival and their mission is not to lose at Camp Nou because if that happens, Barca will have a chance to turn the game around. In a situation where he had to win to cut off his opponents, Ronaldo shone as expected.

 Ronaldo’s classic celebration.

Sami Khedira gave Real the lead after just 17 minutes of play. But with only 20 minutes remaining, Alexis Sanchez equalized for Barca. The atmosphere at the end of the match was really tense, and then Real fans burst into tears when Ronaldo knocked down Victor Valdes from Mesut Ozil’s pass.

Real Madrid 3-4 Barcelona – 23/03/2014

One of the most scoring clashes was between Messi and Ronaldo, and as usual both men scored. Iniesta helped Barca take the lead, but Benzema’s double made their fans in the stands explode.

 Messi scored a hat-trick to help Barca defeat Real in the second leg of La Liga season 2013/14.

Ronaldo in this match earned a penalty and successfully took it, but Messi was the main character. The Argentine striker scored a hat-trick to help Barca defeat Real at the Bernabeu. However, this was not a successful season for both in La Liga when Atletico Madrid was the team that won the championship at the end of the season.

Barcelona 0-3 Juventus – 12/08/2020

This is the final confrontation between Messi and Ronaldo and it took place in the 2020 Champions League group stage. Ronaldo was the one who finally enjoyed the joy of victory when he scored 2 goals against Barca . It also ended a series of tense confrontations between him and Messi after many years at the top.

 Ronaldo celebrates the goal that helped Juventus defeat Barca.

All in all, these two outstanding people have faced each other in a total of 36 matches, in which Lionel Messi is better with 16 wins and 9 draws. In terms of personal achievements, Messi scored 22 goals, slightly better than Ronaldo with 21 goals.

Any comparison of who is better than who is lame because it depends on many factors because after all, football is a team sport. We should feel happy because we got to enjoy a unique competition in history between two contemporary legends of soccer.