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Published 19:05 IST, November 1st 2019

Lionel Messi is bettering Ronaldo in free kicks since 18 mths: Report

Lionel Messi seems to be on track to win his sixth Ballon d’Or this season. Messi is superior to Ronaldo in terms of free kicks in the last 18 months.

Reported by: Akhil Nambiar
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Lionel Messi
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Barcelona’s prime forward Lionel Messi seems to be on track for winning his sixth Ballon d’Or this season. Messi continues to break several records and is leaving several milestones for others to achieve. When it comes to free kicks, the Argentine international has scored 52 goals, with 46 coming for his club and 6 for his country. On the hand, his former LaLiga rival Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 54 free-kick goals, with 45 goals coming for his club and 9 for his country.

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Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo

However, according to the reports put up by a leading publication, Lionel Messi has been far superior to Cristiano Ronaldo over the last year and a half in terms of free kicks. After Ronaldo’s move to Juventus, Messi has scored ten free kicks. On the other hand, the Portuguese international has not managed to score a single one with Juventus. Ronaldo has taken 28 free kicks for The Old Lady and has missed them all.

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Messi recently scored his 50th goal during Barcelona’s 5-1 home win against Real Valladolid, where he scored a brace and made two assists. Arturo Vidal, Clement Lenglet and Luis Suarez added a goal each for the winning side. The Barcelona forward started this season being out with an injury as the Catalan giants struggled to get results. But after Messi’s return, they have played phenomenally well.

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And, the numbers say it all as the Barcelona side had just won two of their five games, drawing one and losing two in the absence of Messi. Meanwhile, after his return since September 24, 2019, the Catalan Giants have won all of the five games they played in the LaLiga. Barcelona are currently placed on top of the LaLiga points table with 22 points, while Real Madrid comes a close second with 21 points. Messi has so far made 8 appearances for Barcelona this season with an equal 5 goals and 5 assists.

Updated 23:23 IST, November 1st 2019