'Not sure that trying to shoot the ball to Argentina is the way to catch up with Messi': Fans mock Cristiano as his arguably worst ever free-kick goes viral

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'Not sure that trying to shoot the ball to Argentina is the way to catch up with Messi': Fans mock Cristiano as his arguably worst ever free-kick goes viral

Portugal defeated Israel 4-0 on Wednesday in their final friendly encounter ahead of the forthcoming European Championship.

Even though Cristiano Ronaldo scored against the Israeli, he also produced his arguably worst ever free-kick on that evening in Lisbon.

No wonder, the 36-year-old's awful attempt that was blown well over the bar has gone viral on the web with many fans comparing him with Lionel Messi.

"I don’t understand how he got so bad at them, aren’t you supposed to get better at them with age?" Reddit user @Zeke1216 has written.

"Messi has perfected them when he wasn’t even as good as Ronaldo was at them in their early careers. I don’t know what happened."

As a reminder, Ronaldo has scored just one free-kick goal in club football since 2017. Messi, meanwhile, now has more free-kick strikes for Barcelona than Ronald in his entire career.

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How Messi, Ronaldo and Lewandowski fared without penalties since 2010: statistical comparison

Cristiano Ronaldo has never been close to Lionel Messi in terms of goals plus assists per 90 minutes without penalties starting from the 2010/11 season, let alone Robert Lewandowski.

As per FBref.com's statistical comparison, the Barcelona icon had been registering 1.8 goals + assists per 90 minutes in the 2012/13 season - Leo's best-ever ratio.

Then-Real Madrid forward, meanwhile, had produced his maximum in the 2014/15 campaign - 1.57 goals + assists per 90 minutes.

The Bayern Munich striker, for his part, has just finished his best-ever season in the terms of goals + assists per 90 minutes - 1.46.

The infographic also shows the trio's respective lowest lows.

Messi has hit the rock bottom in the 2020/21 campaign - 1.07 - while Ronaldo had registered the lowest figures in the previous season with Juventus - 0.74. Lewandowski, meanwhile, had been producing just 0.51 goals + assists per 90 minutes while at Borussia Dortmund in the 2010/11 campaign.

Puyol pays Cristiano a huge compliment… before reminding the world Leo Messi is better

In an interview back in 2017, Barcelona legendary captain Carles Puyol was asked to pick the better between Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Although the ex-defender started off by paying a compliment to the Portuguese, he briefly reminded everyone that Messi was better.

"Ronaldo is one of the best players in the history of the game but Messi is better.

"The competitiveness and rivalry between them is very intense and I think that has helped to improve them both because neither man relaxes.

"For me, Messi is the best. I have played with him and he has given me so much happiness. He is always improving and has been consistent for 10 years.

"I actually think that he gets better with every season and that is because of the passion he has. I hope that he wins something with his country. That would mean that aside from winning with his club, he will have won everything with everyone."

The Messi/Ronaldo debate remains one of the most ardent ones in modern football even with the two superstars arguably past their peaks. Even with them playing in different leagues, the fans continue to compare them.

AuthorDen SchepanskyiSourceTribuna.com
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