Messi is twice as efficient as Ronaldo
In the group stage of the 2023 Leagues Cup, in his Inter Miami debut, Messi entered the field from the 54th minute and then scored a super kick in the fourth minute to seal a 2-1 victory over Cruz Azul. In the next match against Atlanta United, the Argentine star contributed two goals and one assist to help Inter Miami win 4-0.
In the round of 16 against Orlando City, Messi scored a second consecutive double to help Inter Miami win 3-1. After that, the owner of seven Golden Balls continued to shine with two masterpieces, including a long shot to open the scoring and then take a 4-4 free kick, then successfully kicked the first penalty shootout to help Inter Miami win Dallas 5- 3. In the quarter-finals, Messi and his teammates will meet Charlotte at 7:30 am on July 12, Hanoi time.
After just four games, Messi has risen to fourth on the list of top scorers in Inter Miami history with seven goals, behind Gonzalo Higuain 29 goals, Leonardo Campana 16 goals and Robert Taylor eight goals. However, Inter Miami was just established in 2018 and has been playing since 2020.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo scored 18 goals in 24 matches with Al Nassr. The Portuguese striker joined Al Nassr in January 2023, scoring 14 goals in the last 19 games of the 2022-2023 season, but did not win the title. Al Nassr only finished second in the Saudi Pro League, losing in the semi-finals of the King Cup and the Saudi Super Cup.
Ronaldo started the new season sublime with four goals in five matches at the Arab Club Champions Cup. Most recently, he scored a penalty to help Al Nassr beat Al Shorta 1-0 in the semi-finals, and will meet Al Hilal in the title match on August 12.
In addition to the opportunity to win the first title in Saudi Arabia, the 38-year-old striker is also bright to win the top scorer. While Ronaldo has four goals, Al Hilal's best scorers are Salem Al-Dawsari, Malcom and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic with the same two.
Last month, Ronaldo affirmed that the Saudi Pro League is a better league than the American professional football league MLS - where Messi has just moved. But statistics from the Opta Power Ranking index show the opposite.
Accordingly, the average ranking score of MLS clubs is 73.2, higher than the average of the Saudi Pro League team of 70. Counting all the top leagues around the world, MLS is currently ranked 29th, and Saudi Pro League ranked 36th.
The MLS is a much more even league than the Saudi Pro League in terms of team quality according to the Opta Power Ranking. Three of the top four clubs in the two leagues come from the Saudi Pro League (Al Ittihad, Al Hilal, Al Nassr) and just one from the MLS (Philadelphia Union), but 13 of the 14 lowest ranked clubs in both leagues. are all in Saudi Arabia.
However, Inter Miami's index is far behind Al Nassr. Specifically, Inter Miami has an index of 72.8 and ranks 503 in the order of clubs in the world updated by Opta on August 9. In seven days, Messi's new club has risen 276 places due to consecutive victories in the 2023 Leagues Cup. Meanwhile, Al Nassr has an index of 77.7 and is ranked 220 in the world.
