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Barcelona's new goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny recently shared his take on the Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo debate. Szczesny was signed as an emergency replacement following Marc-Andre ter Stegen's season-ending injury in Barcelona's 5-1 win over Villarreal on Sunday (September 22).
The Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo debate has divided football fans for two decades now. The two megastars maintained an uncontested duopoly over world football in their primes, winning a record 13 Ballons d'Or between them.
Their rivalry started in earnest when Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009. From then on, El Clasicos saw a meteoric rise in popularity with Lionel Messi's Barcelona clashing against Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid every season.
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Cristiano Ronaldo has faced Lionel Messi 30 times in El Clasicos over the years, winning eight of them. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi has won 14, and eight have ended in a stalemate.
In an interview with the media (via Barca Universal), Wojciech Szczesny opined that he preferred Messi because of the innate beauty in his game.
“Ronaldo and Messi are very different, they are both great players and for me, they are the best players in history. For the beauty of football that Messi has shown in the last 20 years, for me he has to be number one,” said the Pole.
Wojciech Szczesny chose Lionel Messi despite having shared the pitch with Ronaldo during his time at Juventus. The two played 101 games in over three seasons.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's lucrative salaries come to light as Forbes names top ten highest-paid footballers in 2024-25
According to a recent report by Forbes magazine, Messi and Ronaldo dominate the list of the highest-paid footballers in the 2024-25 season. Both superstars are currently plying their trade outside Europe but their popularity and impact on the game remains unparalleled.
In 2023, Ronaldo left Manchester United for the Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Nassr, while Messi joined MLS side Inter Miami in the same year. Despite nearing the end of their careers, the two still make the most money in football thanks to their extremely lucrative contracts.
According to Forbes, Ronaldo sits at the top of the pile with a whopping $285 million per year. The Portuguese makes $220 million per year in wages from Al-Nassr while the rest comes from sponsorship deals.
Messi, meanwhile, takes the second place with a total earning of $135 million. For the Argentine, $60 million is earned from wages while the rest comes from sponsorship deals. He is also the only MLS player on the list.
The rest of the list is dominated by Saudi Pro League superstars like Neymar ($110 million), Karim Benzema ($104 million), and Sadio Mane ($52 million). Meanwhile, Premier League's Erling Haaland ($60 million) and Mohamed Salah ($53 million) also made the list.
Finally, Real Madrid duo Kylian Mbappe ($90 million) and Vinicius Junior ($55 million) are the twoLa Liga players on the list of the top ten highest-paid footballers in the world.
