It’s a rivalry that has dominated football for almost two decades now, with the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo story looking likely to come to a close at next year’s World Cup.
Now well into veteran, yet not necessarily diminished, status, the two men defined a generation during their pomp at Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively, with the beautiful game arguably having never seen – and might never again – the two best players in the world going head to head on a weekly basis.
While Messi’s contract situation at Inter Miami had sparked speculation regarding a potential switch to Saudi Arabian side, Al Ahli – throwing up the prospect of a renewed battle with Al Nassr’s number seven – it looks unlikely that their paths will cross again on the club scene.
With previous reports of Ronaldo moving to Miami to partner the Argentine having also been shut down by his recent bumper extension in the Middle East, the greatest ‘what if’ question of the modern era is likely to go unanswered.
Just what would have happened if the two men had ever played together in the same side?
Well, with the help of AI tool ChatGPT, we may well have the answers, having taken a deep dive into what Messi’s career, in particular, would have looked like had he ended up partnering the Portuguese sensation:
Amid prior reports that Madrid had repeatedly attempted to sign Messi during his time at Camp Nou, the prediction is based on their pair lining up together at the peak of their powers at the Bernabeu, between 2009 and 2018:
2017/18
33 G, 22 A
44 G, 8 A
2016/17
37 G, 25 A
42 G, 10 A
2015/16
32 G, 27 A
49 G, 11 A
2014/15
35 G, 30 A
52 G, 9 A
2013/14
34 G, 21 A
51 G, 12 A
2012/13
42 G, 24 A
47 G, 11 A
2011/12
50 G, 29 A
48 G, 9 A
2010/11
40 G, 25 A
45 G, 10 A
2009/10
38 G, 21 A
42 G, 10 A
1 A change in role
The sight of the 38-year-old strolling round the park has become a familiar one for both club and country these days, with Messi, as to be expected considering his age, no longer the balletic, lightning forward who tore defences to shreds in his pomp.
Who can forget the left-footer’s majestic 2012, in which he scored 91 goals in total during a simply staggering calendar year, having made a sublime transition from life on the flanks to a false nine berth. In all for Barcelona, the 5 foot 7 star registered 672 goals and 303 assists in 778 games, as per Transfermarkt.
In the view of ChatGPT, a link up with Ronaldo at the Bernabeu might well have led to a different positional path, with it predicted that Messi would have dropped into a deeper role sooner, described as “more orchestrator than finisher”.
That tweak to operate more as a number ten – in a similar vein to Mesut Ozil’s role behind ‘CR7’ for Los Blancos – would perhaps have seen Messi emerge as more of a provider than a clinical goalscorer.
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