Last summer provided a perfect opportunity to truly reignite one of football’s most divisive debates: Who is better, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?
After almost two decades at the top of world football, battle lines have been drawn, with both camps as loyal as the other.
With 12 Ballon d’Or crowns between them, there is no question that when they do eventually call it a day, this era will be known as theirs.
The pair have records that wouldn’t look out of place from 1920s football, let alone in 2022.
But with Ronaldo and Messi both deciding to move on from their old clubs last year, comparisons have quickly returned.
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Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo rivalry: Records, goals and trophies won compared
It hasn’t been plain sailing for Ronaldo. The Manchester United that he returned to in 2021 is far and away from the one he left more than a decade earlier.
Dominance has shifted to dysfunction, with managerial changes, unhappiness with owners and no Premier League titles in eight years.
But he has managed to find the net 14 times in 23 games for the Red Devils and while his overall performances have been questioned, his goalscoring record can’t be.
Messi meanwhile has endured a similarly up-and-down start to his life away from Barcelona, stunning the football world when he left Barcelona and the security of the Camp Nou for the first time in his career.
In contrast to Ronaldo, the side Messi joined, Paris Saint-Germain, are cruising towards domestic honours, but his goal return has been somewhat less impressive.
In 12 Ligue 1 games Messi has just one goal, with the majority of his scoring feats coming in Europe.
But his continued profligacy in front of goal in the league has led credence to those in the Ronaldo camp that Messi was only able to perform whilst at Barcelona.
That was always the view of Jose Mourinho, who had first-hand experience of managing Ronaldo during his stint at Real Madrid.
Asked to compare the two, Mourinho claimed Ronaldo had cleared more obstacles to reach his level, while Messi was able to grow and flourish in the same surroundings his entire career.
"It is harder to be Cristiano than Messi,” Mourinho told A Bola in 2012. “Messi grew up in the team where he plays, with the players with whom he plays. Not Cristiano.
“He was in England, then they put him here in a losing team. He had to grow over the last two years with this team which has been forming.”
He added: "When someone with the same responsibility as me comes out and says: 'Mine is the best on the planet' then I have to say: ‘Mine was not born in Madeira, he was born on Mars; he is not from planet Earth, he is the best in the universe.
"If Messi is the best on the planet, Ronaldo is the best in the universe. It would be a crime if Ronaldo did not win the Ballon d'Or."
It’s a very similar argument to Sir Alex Ferguson’s, who labelled Messi as a “Barcelona player”, while pointing to the fact that his protege could perform for any team in the world. Backed up by his exploits in Portugal, Spain, Italy and England.
"People say who is the best player in the world? And plenty of people quite rightly say Messi - you can't dispute that opinion,” Ferguson said in 2015.
"But Ronaldo could play for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Doncaster Rovers… anyone, and score a hat-trick in a game. I'm not sure Messi could do it.
"Ronaldo's got two feet, he's quick, great in the air, he's brave - Messi's brave, of course. I think Messi's a Barcelona player."
