Assists (Transfermarkt™ criteria) given by Messi vs Ronaldo in club competitions

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

PeriodLionel MessiCristiano RonaldoDifference
2002/200305-5
2003/2004014-14
2004/2005023-23
2005/2006532-27
2006/2007953-44
2007/20082761-34
2008/20094673-27
2009/20106085-25
2010/201188103-15
2011/2012124118+6
2012/2013142131+11
2013/2014158147+11
2014/2015191170+21
2015/2016215185+30
2016/2017238197+41
2017/2018261205+56
2018/2019285218+67
2019/2020313227+86
2020/2021331233+98
2021/2022348236+112
2022/2023376240+136
2023/2024390254+136
2024/2025416259+157
2025/2026434265+169

Distribution by season

PeriodLionel MessiCristiano RonaldoDifference
2002/20035-5
2003/20049-9
2004/20059-9
2005/200659-4
2006/2007421-17
2007/2008188+10
2008/20091912+7
2009/20101412+2
2010/20112818+10
2011/20123615+21
2012/20131813+5
2013/201416160
2014/20153323+10
2015/20162415+9
2016/20172312+11
2017/2018238+15
2018/20192413+11
2019/2020289+19
2020/2021186+12
2021/2022173+14
2022/2023284+24
2023/202414140
2024/2025265+21
2025/2026186+12

Assists (Transfermarkt™ criteria) given by Messi vs Ronaldo in club competitions: key facts

Who has more assists, Messi or Ronaldo?

Messi has provided 361 assists and Ronaldo 224 assists. Messi is ahead by 137. Messi gives an assist every 222 minutes and Ronaldo every 407 minutes, so Messi creates for his teammates 83% more often.

Data updated on 01/11/2026.

Cache date: 04-11-2026 00:50:21