Man the game misses Shakhtar being good, it misses Anderlecht, it misses Olympiacos, it misses Celtic, it misses Valencia, it misses Basel, it misses Zenit
That passing arsenal is nuts. Its range of possibilities (variety) >>> best I’ve ever seen. He escapes the press better than your favourite dm and progresses the play better than your best cm. World class in both the final third as he is in the first phase.
1 of 1 offensive bag
The interesting thing about 2008 / AIG / Vodafone Ronaldo was that he was great indeed - but soon realized that it wasn’t enough to compete with the monster from Rosario - Messi’s first Ballon D’Or was 2009 and won 4 straight.
So he changed his game to focus on one thing only, being the head of a deadly spear and he was fantastic at it. Unbelievable goal scoring.
Went to the best teams in Spain and Italy. Getting goals was his sole objective and he got them. 4 golden boots (1 season tied with Suarez). 4 more ballon D’oro even when he won 0 trophies.
But somehow, La pulga while bagging 5 IFFHS best playmaker award, dropping deep and dribbling like he’s possessed, still has 6 golden boots and more goals in Europe.
It’s a difficult position to debate from. I feel for Ronaldo fans. Which explains why they keep going back to 2008 - the last stand before the sacrifice. It’s not easy.
The two lowest rated teams to ever make a World Cup final:
6.96 — 🇦🇷 Argentina 2026
6.99 — 🇦🇷 Argentina 2022
Messi was the POTT in both tournaments. (8.53 in 2022, 8.79 in 2026)