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Assists (Transfermarkt™ criteria) given by Messi vs Ronaldo in the group stage of the Champions League before turning 30 years old

Transfermarkt‘s criteria is more lenient in their concept of assists. They include deflected passes, rebounded shots, penalties earned, and passes or shots leading to an own goal.

In this section, we use that criterion, although the figures on Transfermarkt may differ, as they are quite inconsistent in gathering assists.

Cumulative distribution

Period	Lionel Messi	Cristiano Ronaldo	Difference
2003/2004	0	1	-1
2004/2005	0	3	-3
2005/2006	2	3	-1
2006/2007	2	6	-4
2007/2008	4	7	-3
2008/2009	7	9	-2
2009/2010	7	11	-4
2010/2011	9	13	-4
2011/2012	13	15	-2
2012/2013	16	16	0
2013/2014	16	18	-2
2014/2015	18	20	-2
2015/2016	19	20	-1
2016/2017	21	20	+1

Distribution by season

Period	Lionel Messi	Cristiano Ronaldo	Difference
2003/2004		1	-1
2004/2005		2	-2
2005/2006	2		+2
2006/2007		3	-3
2007/2008	2	1	+1
2008/2009	3	2	+1
2009/2010		2	-2
2010/2011	2	2	0
2011/2012	4	2	+2
2012/2013	3	1	+2
2013/2014		2	-2
2014/2015	2	2	0
2015/2016	1		+1
2016/2017	2		+2