The goal-scoring duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo takes a turn if penalties disappear: Who would have more goals?

C omparisons between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are endless, however, there is a new statistic that emerged after the weekend that both had and in which the winner is the Inter Miami striker, proving that he is more current than ever and that he does not need penalties to have records.

It turns out that both Messi and Cristiano have many goals scored from the penalty spot, however, if we take those goals out of the careers of both, there is a clear winner between who has scored more times and that was the recent revelation of an account on X.

The new duel between Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Football statisticians never stop working and now a figure has been revealed that gives much to think about in terms of the comparisons between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Both players have made history and have an absurd number of goals, however, without penalties things change.

While Ronaldo is the one who has more goals than Messi and is getting closer to reaching 1,000, if we take penalties out of his records, his numbers drop considerably.

After his last brace, Messi reached 786 non-penalty goals, while Ronaldo has 783 . The figures are still very good, but they mark a key point: Ronaldo is more of a goalscorer due to the penalties he has scored, so everyone can draw their own conclusions.

Javier Mascherano's blunt response about Lionel Messi's level

Last weekend, Inter Miami won a hard-fought match against Orlando City, where Lionel Messi was once again the team's star player. The Argentine scored twice and earned praise from fans and his coach.

After the match, Inter Miami coach Javier Macherano spoke about Messi's current level ahead of the World Cup and explained that he is still the best.

" Leo, in addition to being what I've already said a thousand times, is obviously the best player who has ever played this sport... he is a leader and as a leader he infects others and he also often has to be infected ," said Mascherano.

Regarding the match, Mascherano explained that in the second half they were able to find Messi's role. "I think in the second half he looked much better... We started to find him in places and positions where he feels comfortable and from there we were also able to give him more options."