5 reasons why Lionel Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo

#1 Messi has a better xG value than Ronaldo

The xG values of both Messi and Ronaldo have cleared the GOAT debate once and for all

Now, for all those who don't know what Expected Goals(xG) and Expected Assists(xA) values are, have a look here. To explain in short, Opta's performance metrics are a way of quantifying quality.

Every shot that a player takes on goal is assigned a specific value. The said value is nothing but the probability of the shot being converted into a goal. The same goes for the xA metric. Each pass is assigned a value that tells the probability of the particular pass being converted into an assist.

The xG and xA metrics came into existence in the 2014/15 season and since then, Messi has notched an xG value of 148.70 in 181 games. However, he has scored 181 goals in reality, meaning he exceeds his xG value by 32.30 points. In short, he has scored 32 goals more than the total amount that was expected of him.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, has notched an xG value of 156.47 in 167 games played. He has actually scored 160 goals, exceeding his xG value by just 3.53 points.