Regardless of the suffering allure of the World Cup, the Champions League is the greatest rivalry of all now, with most of the world's best footballers clashing on a yearly premise.
In any case, even in this stacked field, Messi and Ronaldo have regularly been significantly better than the rest.
Messi has driven Barcelona to three Champions League titles - in 2009, 2011, and 2015 - and has frequently saved his most virtuoso exhibitions for the enormous event.
It tends to have contended that Ronaldo has done this much more than Messi; he's won five Champions League awards - one with Manchester United and four with Real Madrid - and regularly comes up grip in the greatest games.
While Messi has scored more objectives in the gathering stages, regardless of playing fewer games than Ronaldo, the Portugal worldwide has altogether more in the knockout phases of the opposition - helped by Real Madrid's time of predominance during the 2010s.
We've done the math and incorporated a point-by-point investigation of Messi and Ronaldo's records in the Champions League knockout rounds.
Enthusiasts of either will find justifications for why their person is unrivaled, aficionados of both will be astounded at their sheer consistency…
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Last 16 appearances: 34
Last 16 objectives: 25
The last 16 helps: 9
Minutes per objective: 114.3
Minutes per objective or help: 84.0
Quarter-last debuts: 22
QF objectives: 25
QF helps: 3
Minutes per objective: 79.0
Minutes per objective or help: 70.5
Semi-last debuts: 21
SF objectives: 13
SF helps: 2
Minutes per objective: 146.4
Minutes per objective or help: 126.9
Last debuts: 6
Last objectives: 4
Last helps: 1
Minutes per objective: 157.5
Minutes per objective or help: 126.0