Is Ronaldo vs Messi the all time greatest rivalry of this sport?

Having recently watched the movie Rush, which about the rivalry between F1 drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt, I've been asking myself this question.

Do you think it is? Would their rivalry be worth a movie someday? After 7 years of having both of them dominate the ballon d'0r/FIFA player of the year award, I think so.

What about Anderson vs the cross trainer?

No simply because a poty award isn't "important" in football. It's just something nice to win as a player but it's certainly not enough to make a great rivalry.

I got bored of this 'rivalry' god knows how many years ago

And no, it's a team sport so their little Ballon d'or battle can't be considered as much of a rivalry as any in solo sports. so should definitely NOT be made into a Movie.

I think the Pirlo vs Xavi rivalry is more interesting as it is more even.

I think so, especially because of YouTube, people are constantly watching these two.

Good rivalry between the two, but don't think its worth a movie.

Ali-Frazier rivalry >>>>>>

But if we're taking on about football, then it's up there.

Pele vs Maradona says hello ^^

(Even though it is after their active time, I think it is even more prominent than Messi vs Cr7.)

I would say it's the biggest rivalry in the history of football. Pele and Maradona never played against each other, so how could it be a rivalry?

They're just competing for the GOAT title, but they're not 'rivals'

Overall pele maradona is the foremost rivalry in football, for decades they've competed for the greatest title, their rappor with each other is more interesting, and there's the brazil Argentina thing.

In terms of playing at the same time, beckenbauer cruyff was great, and came to cataclysmic battle in the biggest game of all, between two countries where unlike brazil vs Argentina there was genuine hatred.

Another rivalry set in the backdrop of hatred was maradona vs platini, I mean napoli and juventus absolutely hated and despised each other, even outside of football, so the battles between the 2 most renowned number 10s for serie a was very absorbing. The messi Ronaldo rivalry isn't that interesting because a) only one is a top 10 all time player, b) they don't have the personality to make it interesting

Not really, considering how one sided the rivalry is.

DuringTheWar wrote: b) they don't have the personality to make it interesting

sort of how l feel about it

I really don't understand how some could feel that this is the "greatest" rivalry in the history of this sport. If so there haven't been any "true" rivalries at all I guess.

I would feel a bit like an idiot if I told my kid about the glory time when those two greatest players of all time were competing for a decade while winning the CL a combined 3 times and no international cup at all
That's the problem. It's a team sport and individual battles alone are nowhere near interesting enough. It would be great if they both would win title after title and meet in a WC final or so.

zigra wrote:I really don't understand how some could feel that this is the "greatest" rivalry in the history of this sport. If so there haven't been any "true" rivalries at all I guess.

I would feel a bit like an idiot if I told my kid about the glory time when those two greatest players of all time were competing for a decade while winning the CL a combined 4 times and no international cup at all

Although I agree the "rivarly" is too one sided for me and not comparable the only thing the two rival each other in is scoring and that's only the half of a player like Messi.

Pele and Maradona may have not played in the same time but based on success and backround till this day still makes a good rivalry.
players should never been rivals though (atleast taken seriously in football) I rather focus on team rivalry such as Madrid vs Barcelona... USA vs Mexico... Argentina vs Brazil etc etc.

Jesus Christ stop being hipsters for once you bellends. It's clearly the greatest rivalry whether you like it or not. Their names are almost synonymous with one another now.

Pele and Maradona never even played against each other.

Only other notable rivalry I can think of is Keane and Viera.

As a matter of fact, in my eyes, the rivalry between Messi and CR7 is more a rivalry between their fans, while Pele and Maradona attack each other all the time and thus obviously have a personal rivalry.

Donuts wrote:

zigra wrote:I really don't understand how some could feel that this is the "greatest" rivalry in the history of this sport. If so there haven't been any "true" rivalries at all I guess.

I would feel a bit like an idiot if I told my kid about the glory time when those two greatest players of all time were competing for a decade while winning the CL a combined 4 times and no international cup at all

Although I agree the "rivarly" is too one sided for me and not comparable the only thing the two rival each other in is scoring and that's only the half of a player like Messi.

Pele and Maradona may have not played in the same time but based on success and backround till this day still makes a good rivalry.
players should never been rivals though (atleast taken seriously in football) I rather focus on team rivalry such as Madrid vs Barcelona... USA vs Mexico... Argentina vs Brazil etc etc.

Yeh I wrote 3 because Messi wasn't all that important in 05/06 and didn't play against Benfica, Milan and Arsenal but of course he was part of the team that won that trophy too.

I agree that team rivalries are far more exciting in football.

zigra wrote:I agree that team rivalries are far more exciting in football.

Schalke vs Dortmund FTW

In terms of media exposure, yes.

rwo power wrote:As a matter of fact, in my eyes, the rivalry between Messi and CR7 is more a rivalry between their fans, while Pele and Maradona attack each other all the time and thus obviously have a personal rivalry.

Spot on. Modern technology gives hordes of idiots a voice to bicker with each other. This is a great rivalry for the 11 year olds with "CR7 rulez" and "leo FTW" on their backs

Which is also a big share of sky's target market. It all seems so plastic

Gil wrote:Jesus Christ stop being hipsters for once you bellends. It's clearly the greatest rivalry whether you like it or not. Their names are almost synonymous with one another now.

Pele and Maradona never even played against each other.

Only other notable rivalry I can think of is Keane and Viera.

this. The world of football spins around these for 6-7-8 years now.

Wenger vs Ferguson circa 1998-2005 was pretty fierce

Maradonna and Pele have no on-pitch rivalry... they played in different eras. It's more of "who's a bigger legend" rivalry.  Maradonna and Platini had a huge on-pitch one however.

Beckenbauer and Cruyff had a big one too.

And then you had all the dutch NT players and managers who hated each other  In-squad rivalries = Dutch are dominant