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What's the story?
According to a report, Cristiano Ronaldo is still ahead of his arch-rival Lionel Messi in the number of direct free-kicks scored through the course of their careers.
In case you didn't know...
With 19 goals and 8 assists in the league, Ronaldo has been one of the top scorers and top assist providers in the Serie A. It goes without saying that the former Real Madrid ace is enjoying a solid debut season with the Bianconeri and portrayed his caliber when Juventus knocked out Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
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After suffering a 2-0 loss in the first leg, Ronaldo took matters in his own hands and scored a hat-trick in the second leg to take Juventus into the quarter-finals. Currently, the Portuguese talisman is recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered during the International break.
Despite Ronaldo's heroics, Barcelona captain Messi has constantly proved that he is a notch above him and anyone else this campaign. The Argentine leads the race of European Golden Shoe, having netted 32 goals in La Liga this season.
The Argentine genius is also one of the highest assist providers with 21 assists in all competitions, and 14 of them coming have come in the La Liga.
Coming on from the bench, Messi scored his 12th goal in the last eight games for the Blaugrana in all competitions to help them overturn a 4-2 deficit against Villareal.
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The heart of the matter
Metro takes a look at the free-kick numbers regarding the two greats of the modern era, which reveal that Messi is still lagging behind Ronaldo in overall free-kicks scored.
The free-kick against Villareal was Messi's third in three games and seventh of the season, which makes him the only player to score more than 6 free-kicks in consecutive seasons in the La Liga. Messi has scored 47 direct free-kicks in his glittering career overall while Ronaldo is yet to score a free-kick for his new club.
Despite Messi's heroics, Cristiano Ronaldo edges ahead in the free-kick numbers. The greatest goalscorer of Real Madrid has netted 53 direct free-kicks in his decorated career. 13 of those free-kicks came for Manchester United, 32 for Los Blancos and 8 for Portugal.
What's next?
It remains to be seen whether the Argentine manages to beat his arch-rival in the number of direct free-kicks scored in the near future and further stir the debate of who's the better player of the two.
