Many of us regulars who have posted in this thread aren’t Messi fans, we just think he’s decisively better than CR7 even though other-Ronaldo is himself an all time great
Which isn’t to say there aren’t aggressive Messi fans around (stares at les habs)...just that a lot of people who you might label Messi fans for posting in this thread, don’t actually have a horse in this race.
Like personally, I think both are great...but also over rated because their #s, consistency & durability aren’t put into the context of 1) the pro offense rule changes, 2) the further concentration of talent at the top clubs post-Bosman, 3) the greater # of games they play now a days in which to rack up goals, & 4) the innovations in medicine & sport science that might have kept Van Basten from exploding into a million little pieces, or may have given Gerd an extra couple of inches to make him even more lethal in the box, etc.
CR7’s heart would have kept him from ever even playing pro 40 years ago, so it’s hard not to imagine what some of the other all time greats would’ve done if they had the science to stay as durable as Messi n CR7 have, ya know?
That’s why I hate GOAT debates in general and mostly only get involved to tease Ronaldo fanboys because of some of the silly arguments they use, like him “inspiring” his teammates to victory 2 summers ago...