Most MOTM awards since 2010-11 provide intel about why Lionel Messi is the best player of the last decade 

What is the story?

A recently compiled data of most awarded Man-of-the-Matches since 2010-11 season might be enough to settle the decade-long Messi vs Ronaldo debate.

The Barcelona ace, Lionel Messi has left everyone behind with a staggering number of 225 MOTM awards since 2010-11 season. Whereas his on-field rival Cristiano Ronaldo is second on the list with 125 MOTM awards.

In case you didn’t know….

It seems only a matter of time until the Catalan giants will be crowned as the La Liga champions for the 26th time after beating second-placed Atlético Madrid 2-0 at Camp Nou last Saturday. Although, there are still a lot of work to be done in Champions League and Copa del Rey, but Barcelona are still in the shout for their possible third treble in the last 10 years.

However, Messi has been a key cog in Barcelona’s success in the last decade or so and there is no doubt that he is the only reason behind Barcelona’s dominance this season. The Blaugrana captain has already scored as many as 43 goals in just 40 appearances across all competition and looks hungrier than ever to lift the UEFA Champions League for first time in the last three years.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo, who is expected to take some part against Ajax in the upcoming quarter-finals of the Champions League has also been instrumental in Juve’s success in this campaign. The Portuguese superstar has already netted 24 times for the Bianconeri and it was his hat-trick which inspired Juve to pull-off a stunning comeback against Atlético Madrid in round of sixteen stage of the Champions League.

The heart of the matter…

A recently compiled data uploaded on Twitter using Whoscored stats showed Messi’s dominance in the last nine years.

Messi has been named Man-of-the-Match for as many as 225 times since the 2010-11 season.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo, Eden Hazard and Zlatan are second, third and fourth on the list respectively with 125, 93 and 89 MOTM awards.

PSG star Neymar has improved his stats about winning the Man-of-the-Match after his move to the Ligue 1 giants in the summer of 2017. He is fifth on the list with 65 MOTM awards.

What’s Next?

Messi and Barcelona will take on Manchester United on the Wednesday night at Old Trafford in a crucial Champions League quarter-final tie while Ronaldo is expected to play some part for Juventus in their quarter-final tie against high-flying Ajax.