#2 Messi is better dribbler and passer than Ronaldo
Messi and Ronaldo are both terrific in their own ways, but one area where Messi has truly shown his brilliance is in his dribbling prowess. In the 2017-18 season, Messi had 5.1 dribbles per game as compared to Ronaldo's 1.1.
With his superior dribbling ability, Messi is better at breaking down stubborn and organised defences.
In addition to this, Messi also performed better in key passes as he had 2.4 per game as compared to Ronaldo's 1.4. This clearly shows in the results too as Messi raked up 12 assists last season whereas Ronaldo could manage only 5.
These two skills are where Messi has established himself as the best in the world over the years, and he is still going strong even now.
#1 Messi is more consistent than Ronaldo
Ronaldo has won the last three Champions Leagues and is no doubt the more consistent of the two in Europe. But if we look at the entire season's performance, Ronaldo's goals in LaLiga have dropped off while Messi was the highest goalscorer in Europe last season.
Another area where Messi is more consistent is that he is much more disciplined than Ronaldo. Ronaldo's indiscipline during last season's Supercopa de Espana led him to miss a number of Madrid's initial matches, which ultimately resulted in Real Madrid finishing third in LaLiga.
Messi's workrate and discipline are the two main factors which make him a more consistent player over the course of a season.