The ink is finally dry on the biggest transfer deal in football
history involving 25-year-old whiz kid from Brazil Neymar Jr. The former
Barcelona striker invoked a clause in his contract allowing him to buy out the
remainder of his deal for 263-million dollars. He then immediately signed a new
deal making him the new superstar of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) a football club
where Neymar is expected to be the focal point of the offense. The new team is
expected to be centered around him and his incredible skills, taking him out of
the shadows cast by playing with the world’s best player, Lionel Messi. Though
the deal is likely a great opportunity for Neymar, it has brought up an
interesting debate. Some have said Neymar’s leaving Barcelona may tip the
scales in the greatest football rivalry of our time between Lionel Messi and
Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi and Ronaldo have been the topic of an ongoing debate for
the better part of a decade as to who is the best football player in the sport,
which has inspired this list of interesting facts from betting-sites.
Lionel Messi has won more FIFA player of the year titles, 5-3 compared to
Ronaldo, and has won more team trophies, scored more goals and has more assists
as well. That being said, the numbers are extremely close, and as Messi has
generally been on the better team made up with stronger players, the scale has
remained tipped ever so slightly in his favor.
With Neymar’s departure, Barcelona is losing a key offensive
asset and opposing defenses will be able to zone in much more efficiently on
Messi. This, coupled with Messi losing his number 1 target for assists last
season, and the debate has a new fire to renew its discussion.
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is a great player and his personal numbers, at
times, have been affected due to poor team performance. Messi, on the other
hand, has been part of, what most consider, being the greatest offense in
football history; teaming Messi with Neymar and Suarez. This offensive trio has
been a force for Barcelona that has won endless trophies and broken record
after record.
Throughout this period, Ronaldo has been able to, at the very
least, stay competitive. A closer look at the numbers shows that Ronaldo,
without much help, has kept pace with Messi in most key stats.
Messi scores, on average, every 100m 18s in gameplay, and
Ronaldo trails at a goal every 114m 28s on average. With much more defensive
pressure on Messi this season, it will be interesting to see if Messi can
maintain the lead in this stats.
When it comes to assists, there is an even bigger discrepancy in
statistics. Messi gives an assist every 244m 16s, while Ronaldo only sets up a
goal every 335m 37s. With the departure of Neymar, this number will surely come
down for Messi, as Neymar was a very prolific striker and a go-to target when
defenses would pay him too much attention.
As Ronaldo is younger and will likely play at least a few extra
years compared to Messi, there is a strong possibility that he will have a few
extra seasons to catch Messi, statistically. Additionally, the fact that Neymar
is no longer available to finish Messi’s assists or take pressure off Messi, by
opposing defenses, and Cristiano Ronaldo might just be the biggest winner in
the Neymar move. The balance of the scales, in the greatest-ever football
rivalry, may have just been tipped in his favor. Only time and football will be
the judge.
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