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Assists (Opta™ criteria) given by Messi vs Ronaldo

Opta stands out as the most reliable statistics hub and serves as the de facto ‘official’ statistics provider in football. They furnish data to esteemed platforms such as the BBC, the Premier League, WhoScored, Squawka, and numerous other prominent media outlets.

Below is Opta’s interpretation of an assist:

The final touch (pass, pass-cum-shot or any other touch) leading to the recipient of the ball scoring a goal. If the final touch is deflected by an opposition player, the initiator is only given a goal assist if the receiving player was likely to receive the ball without the deflection having taken place. Own goals, directly taken free kicks, direct corner goals and penalties do not get an assist awarded.

Cumulative distribution

Period	Lionel Messi	Cristiano Ronaldo	Difference
2002/2003	0	4	-4
2003/2004	0	13	-13
2004/2005	0	25	-25
2005/2006	6	35	-29
2006/2007	11	51	-40
2007/2008	27	59	-32
2008/2009	46	68	-22
2009/2010	58	79	-21
2010/2011	87	97	-10
2011/2012	121	114	+7
2012/2013	139	128	+11
2013/2014	155	143	+12
2014/2015	186	164	+22
2015/2016	213	181	+32
2016/2017	231	194	+37
2017/2018	252	205	+47
2018/2019	272	215	+57
2019/2020	298	220	+78
2020/2021	315	227	+88
2021/2022	331	231	+100
2022/2023	361	236	+125
2023/2024	379	252	+127
2024/2025	389	257	+132
2025/2026	389	258	+131

Assists type

Compiled using Opta™ data from 2009 to present, for the following competitions:

Copa América, FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup Qualifier, La Liga, Ligue 1, Major League Soccer, Premier League, Serie A, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Euro, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Nations League

Player	Games	Cross		Corner		Throughball		Free kick		Others
Leo Messi	682	26/257	10.12%	8/257	3.11%	88/257	34.24%	15/257	5.84%	137/257	53.31%
Cristiano Ronaldo	638	15/148	10.14%	0/148	0%	17/148	11.49%	2/148	1.35%	116/148	78.38%

Source: Opta™ Sports – Last update: 21/08/2025

Distribution by season

Period	Lionel Messi	Cristiano Ronaldo	Difference
2002/2003		4	-4
2003/2004		9	-9
2004/2005		12	-12
2005/2006	6	10	-4
2006/2007	5	16	-11
2007/2008	16	8	+8
2008/2009	19	9	+10
2009/2010	12	11	+1
2010/2011	29	18	+11
2011/2012	34	17	+17
2012/2013	18	14	+4
2013/2014	16	15	+1
2014/2015	31	21	+10
2015/2016	27	17	+10
2016/2017	18	13	+5
2017/2018	21	11	+10
2018/2019	20	10	+10
2019/2020	26	5	+21
2020/2021	17	7	+10
2021/2022	16	4	+12
2022/2023	30	5	+25
2023/2024	18	16	+2
2024/2025	10	5	+5
2025/2026		1	-1

	Totals			Per game
Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Goals	Assists	Contrib.
FC Barcelona	778	672	269	0.86	0.35	1.21
PSG	75	32	34	0.43	0.45	0.88
Inter Miami	71	59	28	0.83	0.39	1.23
Argentina	193	112	58	0.58	0.30	0.88
Totals	1117	875	389	0.78	0.35	1.13

Summary

Lionel Messi 38 years, 1 month, 28 days

	Totals			Per game
Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Goals	Assists	Contrib.
Sporting CP	31	5	4	0.16	0.13	0.29
Real Madrid	438	450	120	1.03	0.27	1.30
Juventus	134	101	20	0.75	0.15	0.90
Manchester Utd	346	145	57	0.42	0.16	0.58
Al-Nassr FC	112	99	20	0.88	0.18	1.06
Portugal	221	138	37	0.62	0.17	0.79
Totals	1282	938	258	0.73	0.20	0.93