New Delhi: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are pretty much believed to be the most outstanding footballers of the twenty-first century.

They have many team titles, and individual awards in their glittering careers. The two main protagonists spent the unforgettable nine seasons meeting each other at their most significant forces as representatives of two arch-rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Mutual respect also exists between the two and this has been shown in a number of interviews. Ronaldo has already confessed that their competitive days were some form of motivation to keep on being better.

Messi recently ended his silence and talked about his relations with the Portugal international. In an conversation with D sports at the sidelines of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, he confessed, "I hold a deep respect and admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo and everything he has achieved in his career, and continues to achieve, as he's still performing at an elite level."

"Our rivalry was purely on the pitch, driven by our desire to give everything for our respective teams. Off the field, we're just ordinary people. While we're not friends in the traditional sense, as we don't socialize, there has always been mutual respect between us," he added.

The two players have an impressive record of 79 senior-career trophies between Messi and Ronaldo, with a record of 45 trophies won individually by Messi and 34 trophies by Ronaldo. They have also managed to regularly score more than 50 goals in one season contributing to their exceptional stability and capability.

The IFFHS noted that Messi and Ronaldo are the only two players who have scored over 800 goals in their respective careers in club and country. Ronaldo is also the record holder of the highest number of official goals scored in the history of football.

Messi is the highest goal scorer in history of La Liga besides being the highest assist maker in the history of the league. Ronaldo has been second in La Liga in goal scored and fourth in Assists. Ryan Giggs is ahead of him in the number of assists, but he is still on top of the list in all-time appearances and goals in the Champions League.