The men who need no introduction, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have literally re-written the football records books. Both have won the prestigious Ballon d’Or trophy a record 5 times and top the all-time goal scoring charts in La Liga and the Champions League.
Players have come and gone, but these two have seemingly been around forever, competing at the top-most level. Be it for club or country, one of these footballing behemoths regularly break/create records like its nothing.
The prolific duo has made goal scoring look like a hobby and it is their fierce rivalry on the pitch that makes El Clasico even more fascinating to watch.
However, the best players in the world, probably the best of all time, have seen some records evade them in their illustrious careers. Here, we take a look at 5 records that neither Ronaldo or Messi have broken and look unlikely to do before they finally decide to call it a day.
1) Most goals in European Cup Finals: Alfredo Di Stefano
Ronaldo and Messi are the two highest scorers in Champions League history. While the Portuguese winger has found the back of the net a record 117 times and is the top scorer, the Argentine magician is just too shy of the century mark at 98 goals in the Champions League.
However, it is Real Madrid legend, Alfredo Di Stefano who holds the record for the most goals scored in European Cup finals, finding the back of the net 7 times in the 5 finals he played in.
He won the European Cup (now known as the Champions League) with Real Madrid five times consecutively from 1955-1960 and turned out 396 times for the all whites in total, scoring 308 goals.
Ronaldo has 4 goals in European Cup finals while Messi has 2. Both have lifted the trophy four times in their glittering careers.
2) Most goals in a single La Liga game: Laszlo Kubala
Messi is currently the top goalscorer in La Liga history, scoring 369 times in 403 appearances, all for Barcelona. Cristiano Ronaldo comes second on the list, finding the net 297 times in 284 matches for Real Madrid.
However, neither of them hold the record for scoring the most goals in a single La Liga game, despite being well known for their goal scoring exploits. Messi scored 4 against Valencia in 2012, while Ronaldo put 5 past Espanyol in 2015.
It is Laszlo Kubala who holds the record, scoring 7 goals for Barcelona against Sporting Gijon back in 1952. The Hungarian born forward surprisingly played for many countries at international level and was regarded as the greatest player to have worn the Barcelona jersey before the emergence of a certain “Atomic Flea” a.k.a Messi.
3) Most Goals at the FIFA World Cup: Miroslav Klose
The FIFA World Cup is a trophy has continues to evade both Ronaldo and Messi. The Argentine has failed to win any major honors barring Gold at the Olympics in 2008 with his national team, although Ronaldo can boast about the Euro 2016 trophy he hoisted with Portugal.
With the World Cup in Russia just around the corner, neither Portugal or Argentina are strong favorites to win the trophy. Even though Messi won the Golden Ball in the 2014 edition in Brazil, both men have failed to stamp their authority on the competition.
The all-conquering duo have a meager return in the World Cup, with Messi scoring 5 and Ronaldo 3. The all-time record is held by Miroslav Klose, the former German international who scored 16 goals at the finals.
4)Most league goals in a season: Ferenc Deak
Ronaldo and Messi are complete football players, not lacking in any aspect of the game. However, it is their prowess in front of goal for which they are best known for. While Messi has won the Pichichi trophy 4 times, Ronaldo has won 3.
The Real Madrid hitman scored a personal best of 48 goals in the league in the 2014-15 season and the Barcelona forward broke many a record during the 2011-12 season in which he scored 50 goals.
It is the late Ferenc Deak though, who holds the record for most league goals in a season. Turning out for Szentlorinci AC in the Hungarian league, the Hungarian scored 66 goals during the 1945-46 season.
5) Most Career Hattricks: Pele
Messi and Ronaldo have scored a ridiculous number of hattricks in their illustrious career. The Portuguese winger is the only player to score three hat-tricks in a single season and has scored 32 La Liga hat-tricks, making him the player with the most hat-tricks in the Spanish league’s history. He is followed by Lionel Messi on 28.
In all competitions, Ronaldo has 49 career hattricks and Messi is on 44. However, they do not even come close to the all-time record of an astonishing 92 hattricks scored by Brazilian legend Pelé.
The 3-time world cup winner is widely considered to be the best player of all time. This record does not look in danger of being broken anytime soon.