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#2 Cristiano Ronaldo
Most readers would be surprised that Ronaldo is ahead of Messi, or that Messi is not the automatic No. 1 in this list. But let me explain my reasoning.
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Messi will be playing in La Liga and he will have to face defenders like Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Diego Godin. But Ronaldo won't have to be up such tough opposition, as there are very few defenders of that pedigree in Serie A.
Also, Ronaldo plays the role of a center-forward whereas Messi plays the role of a second striker most of the times. So Ronaldo's chances of scoring goals seem to be better than Messi's at the moment.
CR7 was in scintillating form last season as he scored 44 goals (26 goals in 27 La Liga games) and assisted eight times in 44 games. He is one of the best to have graced the game along with Messi, and he is definitely a top contender for this award.
