El Clasico countdown: Did Messi or Ronaldo shine brighter in this legendary derby?

El Clasico. Besides representing a clash of Barcelona v. Real Madrid, the world’s two most popular clubs, and their distinct regional cultures, these matches also serve as the main stage for the globe’s greatest players. None are more iconic than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. 

While this Saturday’s El Clasico (3 p.m. on ESPN+) obviously won’t feature these two titans, it’s always fun to step into the time machine and dive into how they performed in this derby of all derbies.

Messi played in 45 El Clasicos during his run at Barcelona, winning 40 percent of them and drawing 33 percent. Ronaldo played in 30 of these matches with Real Madrid, winning only 27 percent of them. In fact, CR7 lost 47 percent of the El Clasicos he played. 

Now let’s take a look at their individual statistics.

It’s important to note that we cannot compare so-called “counting stats” simply because Messi played in far more El Clasicos than Ronaldo. The Argentine had 45 appearances wearing blue and garnet against Real Madrid (including games in La Liga, the Champions League and other cup games), while CR7 played 30 matches against Barca. 

So forget about the fact that Messi scored 26 goals in El Clasicos (the most by any player), while Ronaldo netted 18. It’s far more telling to analyze their averages. Doing this, we see they scored at almost exactly the same rate. Messi found the back of the net 0.58 times per game, and Ronaldo scored 0.60 times per game. For Messi, that amounted to a goal every 151.5 minutes compared to a goal every 141 minutes for his Portuguese rival.

Messi and Ronaldo both scored plenty of goals in El Clasico matchups

Other stats reflect the two megastars’ very different styles of play. The Flea has always been thought of as a superb dribbler — some have called him the best of all time — and a visionary playmaker. Conventional wisdom holds that Ronaldo is more of a sniper focused primarily on scoring with his feet and head.

Thus, it’s little surprise that Messi averaged 0.3 assists per every El Clasico he played versus Ronaldo’s 0.03 assists per game. Other stats reveal just how brightly the well-rounded Messi shined on the biggest stage. He completed 2.9 successful dribbles and 1.3 key passes per game, compared to Ronaldo’s 1.5 successful dribbles and 0.4 key passes.

Like an astronomer focusing a telescope on two bright suns circling each other in a binary star system, now let us turn to some of the most exciting head-to-head matchups between Messi and Ronaldo in El Clasico.

November 2010, La Liga - Barcelona 5, Real Madrid 0

In November 2010, Barca earned “una manita” against their rivals. The phrase means “a little hand” and denotes a 5-0 victory, one goal for each finger. The winners embarrassed Real Madrid gaffer Jose Mourinho in his first El Clasico. Xavi Hernandez scored the first goal on a picturesque pass from Andres Iniesta. At 17 minutes, Pedro made it 2-0. A wonderful through ball from Messi to David Villa resulted in the third goal at 55 minutes. Villa would add another just three minutes later, and Jeffren Suarez scored the fifth for Barca.

April 2011, Champions League - Barcelona 2, Real Madrid 0

In the first leg of this Champions League semifinal, Real’s Pepe was sent off in the 61st minute, opening the door for Messi and friends. Ibrahim Affelay replaced Pedro Rodriguez for Barca at 71 minutes, and just five minutes later slipped a cross to Messi for the first goal of the match. In the 87th minute, Messi took a pass from Sergio Busquets near the halfway line and surged through four defenders to slide the ball past Iker Casillas. The look on Mourinho’s face after the goal is priceless.

February 2013, Copa del Rey - Real Madrid 3, Barcelona 1

After drawing 1-1 in the first leg of the semi, the rivals met at the Camp Nou with all to play for. In his inimitable style, Ronaldo drew a penalty against Barca defender Gerard Pique in the 13th minute. He slotted it home for a 1-0 lead. In the 57th minute, Angel Di Maria’s shot for Real was saved by Jose Pinto, but Ronaldo pounced on the loose ball to score his second goal. Raphael Varane scored 11 minutes later to put the match out of reach. 

April 2017, La Liga - Barcelona 3, Real Madrid 2

Ronaldo was denied a penalty in the second minute, then Real grabbed an early lead in the 28th minute on a goal by Casemiro that ricocheted in off the post. Five minutes later, Barca drew level on a goal by Messi. After the intermission, Ronaldo came close to scoring at 66 minutes, but his shot went over the bar. In the 73rd minute, Ivan Raktic nailed a strike from just outside the box to give Barca a 2-1 advantage. Then four minutes later, Real’s Sergio Ramos was shown a red card for an aggressive, two-footed challenge on Messi. Ramos was breathing a sigh of relief at 85 minutes when sub James Rodriguez finished a cross from Marcelo to draw Real level once again. However, Messi gifted the Barca faithful an unforgettable memory just seven minutes later by sending the final kick of the match into the net for his 500th Barcelona goal and 3-2 victory for the Blaugrana.