Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi remain the gold standard
By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo might be on new teams this season — or a new-old team in the case of Manchester United’s Ronaldo — but as they enter the twilights of their otherworldly careers, the aging superstars’ heroics in the Champions League this week show that two of the all-time greats remain difference-makers at the sport’s highest level.
On Wednesday, the 36-year-old Ronaldo scored in the 81st minute to complete United’s comeback from a two-goal halftime deficit at home to beat Italy’s Atalanta 3-2.
A day earlier, Messi, 34, scored a critical equalizer for Paris Saint-Germain against German visitors RB Leipzig, then converted the clincher from the penalty spot — on an audacious Panenka kick, no less. The unspoken message: I’m still the greatest.
When Messi joined PSG in August after 16 glorious seasons at Barcelona, the only professional club he’d ever known, and Ronaldo returned to the Red Devils weeks later following 12 years with Real Madrid and Juventus, it was fair to wonder how the two would fare following such tectonic moves. After all — and sorry if this is sacrilege — neither living legend is quite as supernaturally dominant now as he was in his prime. Whatever they have lost, though, it isn’t much.
Ronaldo’s latest strike was his sixth in eight Premier League and Champions League matches in the 2021-22 campaign. In the latter competition, he has scored in all three of United’s group stage contests, extending his record haul each time. (It now stands at 179.)
Messi has yet to find the net in Ligue 1. But then again, he has barely played — by design — appearing in only three of PSG’s 10 league tilts and logging just 190 minutes. He didn’t go to Paris for domestic honors, of course. PSG has eyes only for its first European title. Nothing else matters. Four-time champ Messi, understandably, is seen as the missing piece on that quest.
In the Champions League, Messi is also 3-for-3, just like Ronaldo. His first tally for PSG came on the appropriate stage: a game-winner against tournament favorite Manchester City last month.
Yet it’s not just the goals. It’s when they happen and what they mean. Not only did Ronaldo’s winner Wednesday put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team atop Group F (a loss, which for 45 minutes seemed likely, would’ve had them tied for last with just three points out of nine), but it might have also saved the job of Solskjaer, his former teammate at Old Trafford, at least for now.
United sit sixth in the Prem after finishing second to Man City last season, putting the coach on the hot seat. The team’s struggles have also put Ronaldo’s habit of not high-pressing opposing defenders under scrutiny, but then, he never really pressed, and it’s difficult to argue with his production.
Meanwhile, Messi’s double on Tuesday prevented PSG from a potentially fatal slip-up at Parc des Princes. Along with 2020 semifinalist Leipzig, the Parisians were drawn into the dreaded group of death with mighty City, plus Club Brugge of Belgium. Failure to hold serve at home could have left PSG needing to beat Leipzig on the road on Nov. 3 or risk placing third and missing out on the knockout rounds.
After its gulf-state-backed owners spent hundreds of millions of Euros over the past four years to stock its roster with Messi, his former Barca running mate Neymar, French World Cup-winner Kylian Mbappe and plenty of others, that sort of humiliation is almost unthinkable. Yet almost as soon as the first flickers of doubt sparked inside the home fans’ heads, there was Messi, rising to the occasion and saving the day, like he has time and time again.
With almost two decades and more than 1,500 goals for club and country between them, we’ve come to expect consistent magic from Messi and Ronaldo. So it wasn’t really any surprise when Ronaldo, not to be outdone by the player he has always been measured against and will always be linked to, stepped up Wednesday and did the same thing.
One day, it won’t be the case. One day in the not too distant future, Messi and Ronaldo won’t be able to summon the wonder in their boots anymore. One day they’ll step off the field for the final time and retire, Messi as the GOAT and Ronaldo not far behind (if at all, if you ask his most ardent supporters).
But for now, they’re still the gold standard. Ronaldo and Messi are still showing out, game in and out, under the brightest lights. They’ve still got it. Long may it continue.
One of the most prominent soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams in more than a dozen countries, including multiple FIFA World Cups. Before joining FOX Sports, the New York City native was a staff writer for Yahoo Sports and ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
