Opinion: Why Ronaldo won only two LaLiga trophies in nine years as compared to Messi’s six

Former Real Madrid and current Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo. [Photo: B3naldo7]

The current era of football is dominated by two giants: Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo (Cr7) and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.

The two nemeses have won every individual award for over ten years, and despite their advanced ages (35 and 32, respectively), they show no signs of slowing down.

As there can be only one, which of them is it? The phenomenal Portuguese Ronaldo or the one-team man Lionel Messi?

Fans and other footballers have been engaging in the above debate for over a decade as to who is the best footballer in history.

Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 and left in 2018 but managed to win only two LaLiga titles in Spain as compared to Lionel Messi’s six.

Messi's fans have always taken a dig at Ronaldo but a passionate supporter has come out to demystify why the current Juventus forward failed to win more than two LaLiga titles.

In a series of tweets on Friday, Tom outlined Madrid and Barcelona statistics for the nine seasons Cr7 was at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Cr7 and Messi have scooped every individual award for over the last 10 years in their decorated careers. [Photo: B3naldo7]

Stats per season:

2009/10

Barcelona first with 99 points, 98 goals scored and 24 conceded. Real Madrid 2nd with 96 points, 102 goals scored and 35 conceded. Ronaldo and Higuain had 53 goals together, the defense was far from great as a collective.

2010/11

Barcelona first with 96 points, 95 goals scored and 21 conceded. Rock-solid once again. Real Madrid 2nd with 92 points, 102 goals scored and 33 conceded. Ronaldo was top scorer with 40 goals but again the defense was mediocre.

2011/12

Real Madrid first with 100 points, 121 goals scored and 32 conceded. Ronaldo's first title of the two. The attack had to score record-breaking goals to win it.. says enough already. Barcelona 2nd with 91 points, 114 goals scored and 29 conceded.

2012/13

Barcelona 1st with 100 points, 115 goals scored and 40 conceded. Real Madrid 2nd with 85 points, 103 goals scored and 42 conceded. As a team Real Madrid wasn't good enough this season.

2013/14

Atletico first with 90 points, 77 goals scored and 26 conceded. Real Madrid 3rd with 87 points, 104 goals scored and 38 conceded. Ronaldo scored most goals while the defense was significantly worse than Atletico's. This was meant to be the treble season.

2014/15

Barcelona first with 94 points, 110 goals scored and 21 conceded. Pique was fantastic this season. Real Madrid 2nd with 92 points, 118 goals scored and they conceded 17 more than Barcelona. Ramos was very mediocre this season, while Ronaldo had 64 goals involvements.

Most goals scored in a single season. [Photo: B3naldo7]

2015/16

Barcelona 1st with 91 points, 112 goals scored and 29 conceded. Barca's attack was unstoppable. Real Madrid 2nd with 90 points, 110 goals scored and 34 conceded. Barca's attack was just too good this season.

2016/17

Real Madrid 1st with 93 points, 106 goals and 41 conceded. Finally the league again after 5 years. The attack was clutch this season. Barcelona 2nd with 90 points, 116 goals scored and 37 conceded.

2017/18

Barcelona 1st with 93 points, 99 goals scored and 29 conceded goals. Real Madrid 3rd with 76 points, 94 goals scored and 44 conceded goals. Ronaldo was awful in the first half of the season but the defense was as usual not that great again. He couldn't rely ever on them.

Cristiano Ronaldo in 2014 became the first and only player in LaLiga history to win Best Player, Best Forward and Best Goal awards in a single season. [Photo: B3naldo7]

Tom further pointed out that the Ronaldo overreliance led to Madrid’s dismal performances domestically. He also said Madrid’s defense was not solid enough as the 13-time Champions League winners conceded tons of goals every season.

“You could see when Ronaldo had that awful run of games that the whole team wasn't doing well. Ronaldo always was the key to win them games mostly, and now they couldn't rely on him anymore (first half of 17/18). When Ronaldo started to score much again the team became better too.

“The problem for we always was with the Real Madrid defense that they would go into attack too much, which resulted in space for the opposite team to create a goal. Barcelona would always make good use of that what resulted in easy wins, especially during Pep Guardiola's time.

“When Varane came into the team, the defense became a bit more balanced but still shaky at times. Don't get me wrong this thread isn't a dig on the defense but its just my personal view on why Barcelona would edge the league against RM as to why Ronaldo only has 2 La Liga's,” Tom concluded.

Messi plays alongside better players than Ronaldo for club and country

Messi has won more titles since he plays for better teams, not necessarily because he is a better player than Ronaldo.

Throughout his entire career, Messi played for arguably the best sides (Argentina and Barcelona) to ever play the game.

Unlike Ronaldo’s club experiences in the top three European Leagues, Messi’s Barcelona teammates have a telepathic connection, since most of them have played together for many years and use the same style and formation.

This is not to say that Ronaldo’s teammates were bad. They were great, but just not as great as Messi’s.

For example, Messi has played with Xavi Hernandez and Andrés Iniesta, two of the most dominating centre-midfielders of our era.

While Messi has the added value of an unforgettable team, Ronaldo is the driving factor of where he plays.

A good example is that Cr7 has won two international trophies (Euro 2016, UEFA Nations League 2019) with Portugal while Messi hasn't won any trophy with Argentina in his senior career despite reaching four finals (3 Copa America, 2014 World Cup).

Portugal has great players but Argentina has over the years had better individuals in terms of their quality.

Cristiano Ronaldo in the Spanish LaLiga from 2009-2018. [Photo: B3naldo7]

Opta Data: Cristiano Ronaldo Vs Lionel Messi stats in all competitions (2009-2018)

Ronaldo 450 goals in 438 matches and 131 assists

Messi 472 goals in 476 matches and 177 assists

Do you agree with Tom’s analysis?

Thread on why Ronaldo only has 2 La Liga's in 9 years. pic.twitter.com/XfhWfUP7WQ — Tom (@PortugalLW__) April 17, 2020