In the buildup for the semifinals coming up, I saw this post on Twitter, which I didn't believe at first, but actually found to be correct. Needless to say, Ronaldo's number is insanity. Feel free to discuss.

Goals in Champions League quarter-finals, semi-finals & finals of last seven seasons:

30 - Cristiano Ronaldo
10 - Robert Lewandowski
9 - Thomas Müller
8 - Neymar
7 - Mario Mandzukic
6 - Arjen Robben, Luis Suarez
5 - Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi, Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos

Ramos the only defender on the list

That there even is a defender on the list is almost as impressive as Ronaldo

besides ronaldo always takes his chances, this also shows that madrid and bayern had the best midfields for the last 5 season. goals and chances are created on the transition to attack by the likes of kroos, modric, alonso, thiago, vidal.

@Sunflash Agreed. :U Ramos is insane. His goal against Atletico was offside though. :P

@Vamos Ronalod is really incredible when it come to goalscoring, I'm telling you guys, I searched lethal on a online dictionary and there was no word, only his face. :U

Messi at 5 is as shocking as Ronaldo at 30. This time period is supposed to be Messi's prime, and the man that once scored 73 goals in a season can hardly score in the Champions League's difficult phase is astonishing.

As with Ronaldo, there is no doubt that he is the best performer in big games as we have ever seen.

@Dynastian Yeah, Ronaldo love to perform and score goal in key game, especially in the later stage of the competition. There is no doubt he is at his best toward the end of a season as well.

As for Messi, the fact Barca get eliminated at the quarter more often than Real in the last 7 year play against him but there is also the fact that for me, he start a season more strongly but end it with a less regular amount of goal, especially in CL. Still a bit of a dissapointing stat for him. :(

@dynastian yes bad stats but I see it as the result after xavi and iniesta past their best, no matter how great of a forward you are, you rely on your midfield play. without de bruyne and silva, would sterling score as much goals? without eriksen and dembele would kane score as much goals? kroos and modric and isco control the mid so well ronaldo doesn't have to get back to retrieve possesion, off course, credit to him, he scores every time he is feeded. without kroos, modric and isco, would ronaldo score as much goals? I don't think so. not trying to be biased towards messi, but xavi and iniesta loss is a huge loss.

When Ronaldo had essien , sahin and granero people weren't saying much about Ronaldo was being fed goals huh?

When Ronaldo had essien , sahin and granero

*Modric, Khedira, Di Maria and Özil.

Ronaldo is a machine. Just relax, history will judge him well but not yet because the guy will play till his 40s...

@baldgenius Good point, then again, player who create goal out of nowhere are rare so like you've said, Ronaldo is pretty impressive in term of converting chance.

Iniesta, Rakitic, and Busquets is suddenly a bad midfield? No one batted an eye when Ronaldo was matching Messi's goal-scoring prowess with Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso in midfield, whereas Messi had Xavi, Andres Iniesta, and 75% possession of the footall backing him.

What about earlier in this year, when Ronaldo was off to a rough start? Everyone was saying he's just old now and that Madrid were done. No one was saying anything about the midfield being exceptionally strong, because they weren't. Modric looked old, Isco frequently lost the ball, and Casemiro kept making mistakes. Only one who played up to standards was Kroos. Now all of a sudden the midfield is overpowered.

Funny how people change the narrative to always play down Ronaldo's feats. When your goal-scoring record is matched by Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema, you know you have a serious problem at hand. The difference between 30 goals and 5 goals is not just the midfield; it's the mentality as well. It's the mentality that we saw Messi shirking away from his team during the Netherlands penalty shootout whilst Javier Mascherano was motivating the team.

It's the same difference we saw in the 2016 Euros vs. the 2014 World Cup. One is able to lead, and the other benefits from the leadership of those around him. One can step up in the big games and in the big stages, and the other stubbornly refuses to move until his teammate feeds the ball to his feet.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: Messi is the only all-time great who cannot lead with his personality. It's the personality that made Ali and Jordan so great. It's the personality we have seen in Di Stefano, Puskas, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Zidane, Cristiano, etc. Messi is the only one who is unable to lead.

Excuses come pouring in for Leo once he loses arguably the greatest midfield trio/quartet of all-time in Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets-Fabregas. As if Iniesta-Rakitic-Busquets is a poor midfield.

nah, xavi-iniesta-busquets in 2009-2013 is far better than iniesta-rakitic-busquets currently. if I say iniesta-rakitic-busquets > modric-kroos-isco you must have disputed it as well? everytime is down to ronaldo vs messi, as if it's a boxing match and 10 other players are just there to fill up the squad. madrid fans don't realize how great their midfields are because they are too focussed on messi vs ronaldo. as a result, players like modric and kroos are not given enough credit. yes, there is a problem but not entirely messi's fault is it, do you even see how isolated suarez and messi is in roma? the midfield isn't good enough and you have to admit it. only the ignorant will blame a player, instead of looking at the bigger picture --> the team's performance. leadership is out of the topic, the title is about top scoring players in the last 7 seasons. others can say what they want about ronaldo, but don't associate others with me.

They dont really play the same role in respective teams though. So the comparison is slightly unfair. Messi doesn't even play false 9 any more and has gone to the right wing/ dropped to attack mid.

Also, the argument for lack of leadership is baseless. Multiple people have come out to state how Messi always supports and tries to motivate the whole team. He's just not doing it in front of cameras.

Just drop all Messi vs Ronaldo arguments and priase the goalscoring capability of Ronaldo. He's always stepped up wjen he had a chance and props to him.

nah, xavi-iniesta-busquets in 2009-2013 is far better than iniesta-rakitic-busquets currently

That is exactly what I have said. Read my comments, please.

only the ignorant will blame a player, instead of looking at the bigger picture

Leadership comes from maturity and your mentality. Ronaldo scores incessantly because he never gives up, and always seeks to attack. Messi enters slumps when his team isn't feeding him the ball or he's constantly losing the ball due to double- and triple-teams from opposing players. He refuses to run and begins to sulk.

do you even see how isolated suarez and messi is in roma? the midfield isn't good enough and you have to admit it.

The midfield wasn't trash against Roma, the tactics were. If the midfield is good enough to help Barca be undefeated in La Liga after 30+ games, then it is good enough to play against Roma. It was Valverde's tactics that screwed up the Roma tie. Barca should have 100% won that tie, and I blame the manager the most for losing it.

madrid fans don't realize how great their midfields are because they are too focussed on messi vs ronaldo

Our midfield is exceptional and I love our players to death. But my argument was that this narrative of Ronaldo scoring only because of his midfield is outrageous. No doubt the midfield helps Ronaldo, but it is also his mentality. Messi doesn't possess the same mentality, which is why you see such a stark drop-off when his midfield goes from all-time great (Xavi-Iniesta-Cesc-Busquets) to very good (Iniesta-Rakitic-Busquets).

Again, I am not berating Messi's talent or ability. Just his mentality.

@Dynast Hey mate, have you checked your wall recently? I dropped there to ask you a question on how you were doing but you've yet to answer me.

As for the topic at hand, I personally don't really feel we should compare Messi and CR7. Not saying Ronaldo isn't incredible and that Messi stat from the quarter on aren't dissapointing but there is too many thing to take in consideration, like the team Real and Barca faced, how they played, if they were many goal involved or not and what role they played.

I do agree CR7 has a better mentality, he is a winner, will not give up till the end and he nowaday keep encouraging the team like a leader. Something I respect. Messi is popular for being humble among many thing but thats also one of his weakpoint. He isn't really the most vocal player and I don't think I ever seen him yell to his team-mate to play better or to motivate them. He is more focused on what he need to do next. Messi is a great team player, maybe a better one than Ronaldo but he certainly isn't a leader. :(

Sorry for going off-topic there, what dynast said inspired me. :)

you are right the tactics are part of the blame vs roma. but I can't lie to myself saying the current midfield was as good as xavi-iniesta-busquets era or as good as kroos-modric-isco, because it clearly isn't. I have to say unbeaten in la liga is a large contribution to umtiti and dm like paulinho, but if you look at the total goals scored for barcelona this season isn't superior as previous ones. off course even players like messi can get frustated when there is not enough support and neither we can blame him entirely for the lack of goals. I don't question both ronaldo and messi's mentality, both is a game changer when presented a chance. but when judging stats, I also look the state of the team as well. there is a reason why messi doesn't score as much, nothing to do with mentality, as much as there is a reason to why salah have a better goal ratio in liverpool compared to roma. a good team can make a player wins ballon d'or. the team makes a player great, not the other way around.

@emo, not trying to compare ronaldo and messi. yes, ronaldo had the better stats this season. but valverde's tactics and the midfield had to share the blame as well for the lack of goals instead of solely saying messi lacks winning mentality.

the team makes a player great, not the other way around.

Not true at all. Considering your own arguments from earlier on this thread: Barcelona would be nothing without Messi. There is a massive difference between Ronaldo and Messi vs. Mohamed Salah or Sergio Busquets. Some players excel due to their system, but others can demolish the opposition without regard to the system.

I agree with some of your points, but not all.

@Dynastian Yeah, some player can adapt to any system but that doesn't mean they can perform in any of those system. If Ronaldo played for Sporting, he would propably win the Liga Nos every season but he propably wouldn't win the CL. If Messi played in a team like Aston Villa, then he propably get the team promoted in the first season but he propably wouldn't win the PL on the very next season. Player make their team stronger but the rest of the team are just as important when you have ambition to win big trophy. And before anyone say my example are stupid, I was just making big if scenario to image what I was trying to say. Please don't get mad people. :P