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The Cristiano Ronaldo - Lionel Messi rivalry dominated the world of football for over a decade. The two superstars are now in the twilight of their illustrious careers and they will go down in history as two of the greatest footballers of all time.
At the peak of their powers, Ronaldo and Messi pushed each other to unprecedented heights while playing for two of football's biggest clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively.
Their individual brilliance shone through as the duo battled for each and every title that was on the line and broke numerous records by outdoing each other.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five Cristiano Ronaldo records that are almost impossible for Lionel Messi to break.
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#5 Number of international appearances
Cristiano Ronaldo currently holds the record for most international appearances in the game. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has turned out for Portugal a total of 201 times in his career.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi is presently eighth on the list with 177 appearances for Argentina.
Ronaldo is a couple of years older than Messi and is likely to hang up his boots before his Argentinian counterpart. However, he is going strong for now and catching up with him feels almost impossible for Messi right now.
#4 Scoring 50+ goals in six consecutive seasons
Ronaldo is widely regarded as the greatest goalscorer to have graced the sport. His goalscoring prowess was crucial to Real Madrid's successes in the last decade. The legendary forward was an extremely prolific goalscorer during his time at Real Madrid.
He scored more than 50 goals in all competitions in five consecutive seasons starting from 2010-11 to 2015-16 for Real Madrid. Ronaldo is likely to hold on to that record for a very long time as it is now too late in Messi's career for him to match this phenomenal feat.
#3 Most assists in UEFA Champions League
Ronaldo's playmaking is a severely underrated aspect of his game. Due to the fact that he transitioned into a centre-forward in the latter stages of his career, his playmaking ability tends to get overlooked.
Ronaldo has provided 42 assists in the Champions League. He is the all-time top assist provider in the history of Europe's elite competition. Messi is close behind though with 40 assists to his name.
However, with both players having left Europe, these numbers are likely to remain the way they are.
#2 International goals
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the leading goalscorer in men's international football. He has been simply phenomenal for Portugal on the international front and has been their main goalscoring outlet for almost a decade and a half now.
He has scored 123 goals for Portugal in his international career. He overtook former Iran international Ali Daei's record of 109 when he scored a brace for Portugal against the Republic of Ireland in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in September 2021.
Messi is the third top goalscorer in men's international football. He has netted 104 times in 176 appearances for Argentina. With Ronaldo continuing to be the main man in attack for Portugal despite turning 38, he is likely to add more goals to his collection. That would make this an almost impossible record for Messi to break.
#1 Most Champions League goals
As we mentioned earlier, neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Lionel Messi are likely to play UEFA Champions League football again in their careers. Ronaldo currently plays for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League and Messi plies his trade for MLS outfit Inter Miami.
At this stage of their careers, returning to Europe and navigating the rigours of the Champions League seems impossible. As such, their numbers in the competition are likely to remain unchanged.
Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer in the Champions League. The Real Madrid and Manchester United legend has scored a whopping 140 goals in the Champions League. Messi comes in at second with 129.
