Messi vs Ronaldo: Head to head

Since the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League semi-finals, Messi and Ronaldo have faced each other 35 times, making it the most popular rivalry by far in this century. In this entry, I'll show statistics of both players to see how they compare.

Results

Messi has won 16 out of 35 head to head games, tying 9 and losing 10, which means that Messi has been more effective in this type of game than Ronaldo has. The same can be seen in La Liga (10 4 4) and the Champions League (2-2-1). There's later a draw in the Supercopa de España (2-1-2) and in international friendlies (1-0-1). Finally, Ronaldo wins in Copa del Rey matchups (2-1-1).

Goals

In total, Messi has scored 22 goals, while Ronaldo has scored 19. Messi also has the advantage in finals (7 to 5), La Liga (12 to 9), Champions League (3 to 0), and the Supercopa de España (6 to 4). They're tied 1 to 1 in international friendlies. On the other hand, Ronaldo shows a clear superiority in the Copa del Rey, with 5 goals to 0. A thing to note is that Messi has scored a hat-trick against Ronaldo, while Ronaldo himself hasn't.

Assists

No comparison in this category. Messi has given 12 assists, while Ronaldo has only given 1. Messi wins in every single tournament + International friendlies assists-wise so there's no need to talk about them.

Goals generated

Once again, Messi is clear in this category, with 34 goals generated to 20 from Ronaldo. Messi wins in every single tournament + International friendlies except the Copa del Rey, where Ronaldo still keeps more G+A, with 5 to 3.

Big chances created

Since the 2015/16 season, with SofaScore stats, Messi has created 6 big chances (5 in one single game), while Ronaldo has created none. Though honestly, the sample size here is small.

WhoScored average ratings

With WhoScored stats, since the 2009/10 season (except the first two Supercopa de España, the first two Copa del Rey ties, and the first leg of the 2012/13 Copa del Rey), Messi has had an average rating of 8.25, while Ronaldo has had an average of 7.2... nothing else to say, just a clear difference between the two.

WhoScored MoTM

With the aforementioned things said about WhoScored, Messi has had 11 MoTM performances (4 of them 10/10) in 22 games, while Ronaldo has only had 1 MoTM. Once again, a clear difference between both players.

Dribbles

With the same source, Messi has completed 99 dribbles, while Ronaldo has only completed 45, less than half of Messi's. Yet again, no comparison.

Throughballs

History repeats itself here, as Messi has 12 throughballs compared to Ronaldo's single 1.

Aerial duels

Finally, we reach a category where Ronaldo is clear since he's won 42 aerial duels compared to Messi's 4, though the height difference plays a major role of course. But even then, in 2011, Messi managed to win an aerial duel against Ronaldo, as it can be seen here:

Let's see what the result is today between Barça and Juve, but regardless, Messi will always be clear when it comes to head-to-head matches. Not disrespecting Cristiano here, just stating the facts.