Messi vs Ronaldo: Who is the king of El Clasico?

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 24 Oct 2025 05:55 CDT
• 6 min read

Analysis

The biggest match in club football takes place this weekend as Real Madrid host rivals Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first Clasico of the season.

It will feature superstars like Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior on the Madrid side and Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewanowski and Pedri on the Barca side.

As ever, the fixture will be star-studded and full of drama.

However, it will perhaps never be as glamorous again as when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were on opposite teams, battling across several tournaments for individual supremacy and supremacy of their respective clubs.

The pair defined a football generation and many consider them to be the two greatest players in the history of the sport.

From league titles, to Champions League titles to even Ballon d'Or trophies, they were and still are perennial rivals.

Both have since moved on, with Ronaldo leaving for Juventus, Manchester United and Al-Nassr, while Messi left Barca under a cloud for PSG before heading to Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.

Never was the rivalry more highlighted when they were on the pitch at the same time in El Clasico.

But, who performed better in the fixture?

Goals and Assists

Messi is, by far, the greatest goalscorer in the history of the Clasico with 26 goals to his name in 45 appearances against Real Madrid.

Ronaldo and the great Alfredo Di Stefano are both in second with 18 goals each.

However, Ronaldo played fewer games than his rival and actually has a better minutes-per-goal ratio.

Ronaldo scored a goal every 141 minutes, while Messi is slightly higher at one goal every 152 minutes.

Messi scored two hat-tricks against Real Madrid, but Ronaldo never scored one against Barca while playing for Los Blancos. CR7 does hold the record for most consecutive Clasico goals, having scored in seven games in a row.

In terms of goal contributions, though, Messi recorded a goal or an assist every 91 minutes, while Ronaldo recorded a goal or an assist every 134 minutes.

The Argentine set up 14 goals for team-mates while the Portuguese, perhaps surprisingly, only recorded one assist in the fixture.

Wins and Losses

Messi naturally played a lot more times in the fixture than Ronaldo, as he the latter joined and left Real Madrid while the Argentine was still playing for Barca.

Let's look specifically at Clasico matches that involved both.

In the 30 times Messi and Ronaldo faced off in the Clasico, Barcelona won 14 times, Real Madrid won eight times and there were eight draws.

Messi has a win rate of 46% and a loss rate of 26% while Ronaldo's rates are flipped on that.

Messi's greatest Clasico moments

Let's pick two for each player.

In the 2011 Champions League semi, we not only had Messi versus Ronaldo, but Pep Guardiola versus Jose Mourinho.

There was no love lost between the pair and the tensions spilled onto the pitch. Pushing and shoving contests were commonplace and of course Pepe got in on the act with a red card for a dangerous high foot on Dani Alves.

Messi was only interested in the football and he took the game by the scruff of the neck to score two goals for the 2-0 Barca victory.

The first was a smart finish at the near post but the second is the stuff of legend.

Sergio Busquets' assist for one of the greatest Clasico goals ever was a pass less than a yard, as he laid the ball off to Messi for the Argentine to embark on a slaloming run, leaving defender after defender for dead before slotting a strike into the corner with his weaker right foot.

For the second moment, we'll choose something even more iconic.

Heading into a 2017 Clasico, Real Madrid were three points ahead of Barca in La Liga with a game in hand. With 32 fixtures played up until that point, it became somewhat of a must-win for the Blaugrana.

With 91 minutes on the clock Madrid, with 10 men, were settling for the draw - but not Barca. With 30 seconds to go, the visitors ghosted up the pitch with the ball eventually finding Jordi Alba deep down the left wing. He passes inwards to Messi who lashes a left-footed strike into the corner as Barcelona went 3-2 up.

After Messi scored, he pulled off his shirt, turned it around so that 'Messi 10' was facing the furious Santiago Bernabeu crowd.

Ronaldo's greatest Clasico moments

In the 2011 Copa del Rey final the pressure was on Real Madrid and particularly on Mourinho. Earlier in the season they were humbled 5-0 by Barca in what was probably the best display from a team in the history of the fixture.

Revenge was on the cards in the cup and Ronaldo took it upon himself to emerge as the match winner with a towering header at the back post.

It was a turning point for Mourinho and his side as Barca could now be beaten and that levitating header was just vintage CR7.

For moment two, it's another celebration.

There must be no better feeling as a footballer than silencing a crowd that has been giving you stick all game.

Messi did it above, but a particular Ronaldo celebration was electric in a different way.

In a 2012 La Liga fixture, the Portuguese superstar rattled in a signature finish to allow Madrid to win 2-1 at Camp Nou, taking a major step towards the title.

After his finish, Ronaldo told the raucous Camp Nou crowd to calm down with a confident calming hand gesture.

It was CR7 at his confident, arrogant best.

Who is better, Messi or Ronaldo?

That's up to you.