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Assists (Opta™ criteria) given by Messi vs Ronaldo in knockout games

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	0	0
2003/2004	0	3	-3
2004/2005	0	6	-6
2005/2006	0	8	-8
2006/2007	1	11	-10
2007/2008	1	11	-10
2008/2009	4	13	-9
2009/2010	6	13	-7
2010/2011	11	16	-5
2011/2012	21	17	+4
2012/2013	22	18	+4
2013/2014	26	21	+5
2014/2015	36	25	+11
2015/2016	46	27	+19
2016/2017	51	28	+23
2017/2018	58	30	+28
2018/2019	64	30	+34
2019/2020	65	30	+35
2020/2021	69	31	+38
2021/2022	71	32	+39
2022/2023	75	32	+43
2023/2024	78	33	+45
2024/2025	78	34	+44
2025/2026	78	35	+43

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	688	26/260	10%	8/260	3.08%	90/260	34.62%	15/260	5.77%	138/260	53.08%
Cristiano Ronaldo	640	15/148	10.14%	0/148	0%	17/148	11.49%	2/148	1.35%	116/148	78.38%

Source: Opta™ Sports – Last update: 02/10/2025

Distribution by season

Period	Lionel Messi	Cristiano Ronaldo	Difference
2002/2003			0
2003/2004		3	-3
2004/2005		3	-3
2005/2006		2	-2
2006/2007	1	3	-2
2007/2008			0
2008/2009	3	2	+1
2009/2010	2		+2
2010/2011	5	3	+2
2011/2012	10	1	+9
2012/2013	1	1	0
2013/2014	4	3	+1
2014/2015	10	4	+6
2015/2016	10	2	+8
2016/2017	5	1	+4
2017/2018	7	2	+5
2018/2019	6		+6
2019/2020	1		+1
2020/2021	4	1	+3
2021/2022	2	1	+1
2022/2023	4		+4
2023/2024	3	1	+2
2024/2025		1	-1
2025/2026		1	-1

	Totals			Per game
Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Goals	Assists	Contrib.
FC Barcelona	182	127	53	0.70	0.29	0.99
PSG	7	1	0	0.14	0.00	0.14
Inter Miami	22	17	5	0.77	0.23	1.00
Argentina	32	11	20	0.34	0.63	0.97
Totals	243	156	78	0.64	0.32	0.96

Summary

Lionel Messi 38 years, 3 months, 11 days

	Totals			Per game
Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Goals	Assists	Contrib.
Sporting CP	6	2	0	0.33	0.00	0.33
Real Madrid	97	84	16	0.87	0.16	1.03
Juventus	21	13	1	0.62	0.05	0.67
Manchester Utd	70	29	12	0.41	0.17	0.59
Al-Nassr FC	24	15	3	0.63	0.13	0.75
Portugal	34	15	3	0.44	0.09	0.53
Totals	252	158	35	0.63	0.14	0.77