Most detractors of this notion exclusively subscribe to the annals of soccer history; for them, placing anyone over Brazilian legend Pelé or Argentina’s Diego Maradona is ignorant at best and a sin at worst. But it isn't just the fans—former players have also been hesitant to heap lavish praise on the pair. Portuguese legend Luis Figo recently claimed that the two wouldn’t have been the best in his era (from the 1990s into the mid-2000s). Other naysayers might point to Ronaldo and Messi’s failure to win the World Cup, soccer’s greatest—but not necessarily its most challenging—prize.

The case for recognizing Ronaldo and Messi as soccer’s greatest players starts with the general scope of the pair's excellence. Since 2008, they’ve been the only people to win the World Player of the Year Award—a level of supremacy previously unseen in the sport. Many critics argue the award is flawed—citing its inherent bias toward attacking players (goals and assists are easier tracked than contributions from defenders). Even fellow footballers, like the ever-annoyed Franck Ribery, have been outspoken in their dissatisfaction, calling the whole shebang a farce.

Pundits like The Telegraph’s Paul Hayward have identified the Spanish League, where Messi and Ronaldo ply their trade (for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively), as a kind of goal free-for-all, where anyone with a smidgen of talent would be able to score almost at will. It’s a belief that comes from a bias in favor of the English Premier league (the most popular league in the world), and an argument lobbied by its most ardent supporters. Yet a look at the numbers quickly dispels this notion: The average number of goals scored in both leagues sits at around 2.77 a game. Messi and Ronaldo’s impact on Spanish football becomes clear in an analysis of the number of goals scored by the league’s top scorers over the past decade.

La Liga's Top Scorers by Season, 2004-2014

The Atlantic



There's been a considerable rise in the highest single-season totals since the duo started dominating the sport. Each season has become an arms race of sorts between Messi and Ronaldo, where week in and week out each attempts to one-up the other. The two are inextricably linked; even Ronaldo has acknowledged the role they’ve played in each other’s success.



Some critics point to Barcelona and Real Madrid’s domination over the rest of La Liga (though Atlético Madrid’s recent rise has threatened the duopoly). The two are undoubtedly the best teams in the country, but this supremacy isn’t a new phenomenon. Both clubs have always had a slew of world-class players at their disposal. A look at the difference in goals-per-season shows the impact Messi and Ronaldo have had on the two historic clubs.

Total Goals Scored by Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga Since 2001

Note the stark change around 2009-2010 in terms of both team’s goal-scoring numbers. Despite the fact that they've always had top-level players, it wasn’t until Messi and Ronaldo began their meteoric rises (represented in the highlighted area of the chart) that the numbers became so high. Since 2010, both Messi and Ronaldo have broken the single-season scoring record in Spain three different times.