Gary Lineker perfectly explained why you can't compare Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

It is an age-old debate that has generated plenty of opinion over the years and led to the exasperated question Why cant we just enjoy both of them

Yet for many football fans, their preference for Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi has identified their own fandom, how they view and enjoy the game. Gary Lineker is among those who have insisted that there is no comparison to be had between the two.

Ronaldo and Messi have shared a remarkable sporting rivalry for more than a decade. They won 12 of 13 successive Ballon d’Or titles between them, with Messi edging out Ronaldo with seven individual honours compared to the Portuguese superstar’s five gongs Luka Modric, in 2018, was the only player to break the sequence.

Conversely, Ronaldo leads Messi in Champions League titles won with his five crowns eclipsing Messi’s three in Europe’s premier club competition the Argentine also featured in Barca’s 2006 success, but not in the latter stages of the competition.

Messi has won more league titles but Ronaldo – who is two years his elder – has scored more goals at both club and international level.

While Ronaldo has a superior goal tally, Lineker has insisted this should not be how both players are judged. The Portuguese superstar may be the best goal-scorer of all time, but Messi has many more strings to his bow.

He Messi is just phenomenal, Lineker told talkSPORT in 2019. Hes 31 now Messi is now aged 35 and hes still going strong. He plays the game in a way the rest of us are not familiar with. I watch a lot of football, and people pine on this whole Messi vs Ronaldo debate theres no comparison for me.