Lionel Messi turned on a footballing masterclass last season and helped Barcelona win six out of six titles. The Argentine also scooped up quite a few awards, including the European Footballer of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year.

Nevertheless, according to a Spanish newspaper- Marca, Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo is a more complete player than Lionel Messi.

A statistical study has revealed that Ronaldo is, in fact, the better of the two. Marca declared that trying to separate the pair was as tough as “choosing between a mother or father”. However, they concluded that Messi’s woes with Argentina were key to him finishing behind Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo Vs Lionel Messi - Who is the Best?

Here’s the comparison of the two Spanish club players, according to Marca:Collective Game
Cristiano Ronaldo 7
Messi 8

Individual Technique
Cristiano Ronaldo 9
Messi 9

Physicality
Cristiano Ronaldo 10
Messi 7

Pace
Cristiano Ronaldo 9
Messi 8

Dribbling
Cristiano Ronaldo 8
Messi 10

Shooting
Cristiano Ronaldo 9
Messi 8

Passing
Cristiano Ronaldo 9
Messi 9

Heading
Cristiano Ronaldo 9
Messi 7

Leadership
Cristiano Ronaldo 9
Messi 7

Free-kicks and Penalties
Cristiano Ronaldo 9
Messi 7

Argentine and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi had won the FIFA World Player of the Year award. Earlier, he won the European Player of the Year. He has helped his club secure an unprecendented six titles this season.

The 22-year-old has picked up the award for the first time, beating last year’s winner- Cristiano Ronaldo and fellow Bracelona team-mates Xavi and Iniesta.

Messi was quoted saying:

“I’m extremely happy. We’ve just ended a historic year, a perfect year in which we’ve won every competition we’ve played in. We just needed to take this last step and everything has worked out how we wanted. It’s amazing.”

Other awards and honours won at the gala event held in Zurich were as follows :-

The Team of the Year

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), John Terry (Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Man Utd), Patrice Evra (Man Utd), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Xavi (Barcelona), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Fernando Torres (Liverpool).

Puskas, Best Goal

Ronaldo won the trophy for the best goal of the 2008/09 season – his long-range thunderbolt for Manchester United against Porto in the Champions League in April.

Women Player of the Year

Brazilian player Marta took the honours for the fourth year in a row!

Fair Play

The late Sir Bobby Robson won this trophy for his outstanding commitment to the values of fair play throughout his career and was collected by his wife Elsie.

The European Footballer of the Year- Lionel Messi scored the decider for Barcelona in extra time as they lifted the trophy in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Earlier, Esudiantes’ Mauro Boselli scored in the 37th minute and the scoreline remained till the dying minutes of the game, the 89th minute to be precise. Pedro headed in the equalizer late in the game even though Barca had around 60% of possession.

The match continued in to extra tine. Messi netted the winner in the 110th minute.

“We played formidably, it was a victory we deserved. Six titles in a year is unequalled,”

coach Pep Guardiola said.

“What hurts most is we were so close with just minutes remaining but we were dignified in defeat. We lost to the best team in the world,”

said Estudiantes coach Alejandro Sabella.

Barcelona celebrating their latest victory