Lionel Messi Tops Castrol Rankings Ahead Of Cristiano Ronaldo

Barcelona star Lionel Messi has surpassed Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo to lead the latest Castrol Rankings, following his remarkable run with the Catalans in the year 2009.

Below are a few facts or statistics related to Messi, based on his achievements during the 2008-09 season.

- Lionel Messi scored 23 goals and made 11 assists for FC Barcelona in La Liga, in only 31 appearances for the Spanish club.

- Lionel Messi scored 6 goals and made 2 assists for Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, in 8 appearances for the club.

- Lionel Messi scored 9 goals and made 5 assists in 12 appearances for the club in the UEFA Champions League.

- Overall, Lionel Messi scored 38 goals and made 18 assists for Barcelona in 51 appearances.

Actually, as the year 2010 has already started, it would be unfair to judge Lionel Messi without taking into consideration the last months of 2009, as well as the beginning months of 2010.

In order to have an accurate result to their statistics, the Castrol Rankings were sorted out after several analysis of Lionel Messi’s attainment in the last 12 months.

The final outcome consequently showed that Messi was in fact better than his “rival” Cristiano Ronaldo; and below are a few facts that prove it:

- In the last 12 months, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has created 56 opportunities in La Liga and 24 in the UEFA Champions League – in only 43 matches.

- In the last 12 months, Lionel Messi has made 12 assists in Spain and in Europe.

- In the past 12 months, Lionel Messi obtained a superb passing completion rate of 84% in La Liga – and this record was not too differing in the Champions League.

Such outstanding records indubitably show how much Lionel Messi gave so as to place his authority over Cristiano Ronaldo in the Castrol Rankings.

Isaac Asante, Footballfantalk.com