“Before, I saw him as a team player" - When Argentina legend claimed Lionel Messi was more selfish than Cristiano Ronaldo 

Argentina legend Mario Kempes once said that Lionel Messi was more selfish than Cristiano Ronaldo. In an interview in 2019, he said that the former Barcelona superstars' game has changed and has become more centered around himself rather than the team.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are widely considered two of the greatest footballers of all time. Spanning close to two decades, it is considered one of the greatest sporting rivalries.

In 2019, Kempes spoke about the selfishness aspect between the two legends, telling AS (via GOAL):

“Messi is Messi and Messi is Barcelona. What you do or do not do is key. When Messi is on the field, prepare yourself, because you do not know at what moment he is going to mess you up.

“But Messi should not surprise us. We have seen him do everything, although I think he has slowed down a bit and now I see him wanting to do more things on his own.”

The 1978 FIFA World Cup winner added:

“Before, I saw him as a team player, now I see him more selfish in his actions. It is the opposite of Cristiano, who now plays more for the team than for the 'me'.

“I will tell you another thing, we Argentines criticise Messi because we are specialists in criticising what is ours. If you ask me who I would have liked to play with, I would say that with Messi ... because I already played with [Diego] Maradona.”

This analysis would be surprising to many as Cristiano Ronaldo is often regarded as more selfish in front of goal than Lionel Messi in the footballing world.

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Comparing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's assists for club and country

The duo have scored plenty of goals throughout their careers and lead their respective countries in the goalscoring charts. Lionel Messi has scored 112 goals in 189 appearances for Argentina. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer in men's international football with 133 goals in 216 games. Both players are also the top assists provider for their sides, with Messi registering 60 assists for Argentina while Ronaldo providing 45 for Portugal.

At the club level, Lionel Messi is the all-time top scorer and assist provider for Barcelona with 672 goals and 303 assists in 778 games. He is also the top assist provider in LaLiga history with 216 in 520 games.

Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, is Real Madrid's all-time top goalscorer with 450 goals in 438 games. However, he is fourth in the assists charts with 131 assists, behind Raul (133), Michel (164) and Karim Benzema (165). The Portuguese, though, has the most assists in UEFA Champions League's history with 42.

It's clear that while both players have racked up record-breaking goalscoring numbers, they have also been creative forces for their respective sides over the years.