Is this the end for Messi and Ronaldo?

Opinion

Is this the end?

Not of everything, although it sometimes feels that way, but of the generational dominance of arguably the two best players in the history of the world’s most popular sport? (Which, to perhaps exaggerate slightly, is a kind of “everything.”)

Jeremias Gonzalez / The Associated Press

Lionel Messi landed at Paris Saint-Germain where the star-studded lineup is cruising to another league title.

There are fans already well into their 20s who simply don’t know world football without the pair of them — jostling for Ballons d’Or, winning Champions Leagues, posting ridiculous scoring stats. And while neither has won nor is likely to win a World Cup, their legacies are so unassailable, so solidified, they don’t even need the reputation-framing trophy to cement them.

That, in itself, is remarkable. As is the fact that you know who I’m talking about, even though I have yet to name them.

So let’s just toss this out there for effect: it’s mid-February, and with barely three months until the end of the season, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have scored a combined 10 league goals. That’s less than half of European goal-scoring leader Robert Lewandowski’s total to date, and two fewer than Canada striker Jonathan David’s haul.

Ronaldo’s current goalless run is his longest since 2010; Messi is on pace, if you can call it that, for his lowest tally since then-teammate Ronaldinho was Barcelona’s undisputed talisman.

Naturally, there are stories behind these numbers. The pandemic is one of them.

Both players have had a bout of COVID-19, and Messi, in particular, took longer than expected to recover. Not that anything can really be “expected” when it comes to this virus. That said, there are other factors that are rather more predictable.

Ronaldo turned 37 earlier this month. Messi will be 35 in June. They’re approaching the ages where it’s remarkable to score at all, nevermind find the back of the net with their accustomed regularity.

And that’s something else to consider.

Last term, amidst ridiculous claims that he’d somehow unbalanced the squad (born out by its unremarkable, reprise performance), Ronaldo scored 33 Serie A goals for Juventus and 36 in all competitions. Messi, meanwhile, bagged 38 for Barcelona—30 of them in La Liga.

Then, in the summer, Ronaldo led the European Championship in scoring (alongside Patrik Schick) and Messi was named Best Player at the Copa America, which he delivered to Argentina for a first time in 28 years. Nothing pointed to a sudden decline for both, although — and it’s a reality we’d long been avoiding — the inevitable was really always imminent.

When these things happen — aging, a downturn in vitality, in performance — they often happen quickly. It’s as true in sport as in life. Inescapable, uncomfortable. We struggle to make sense of the narrative.

For Ronaldo and Messi, the narratives muddied swiftly in the summer.

Seemingly overnight, both found themselves without clubs. Money, naturally, had a lot to do with it, at least on the surface.

Juventus had quite spectacularly overextended themselves and made Ronaldo the scapegoat. The Portugal captain was publicly shopped, with everything from a return to Real Madrid to scandalous transfers to Barcelona or Manchester City on the table.

At the last minute, and no doubt at least in part to prevent the embarrassment of a City move, Manchester United repatriated their former wonderkid.

In Messi’s case, Barcelona’s stunning failure to secure the Argentine on a multi-year contract — likely the consequence of a ruinous wage structure and financial mismanagement that literally sent an administration to prison — essentially forced him out of Camp Nou.

He, too, had a brief spell in limbo before landing at Paris Saint-Germain.

That’s all to say that, at a point in their careers where stability would have served, and maybe preserved, them, both found themselves unsettled and, for at least one of them, in less-than-ideal situations.

The Manchester United of 2022 is certainly not the club Ronaldo left in 2009. Dysfunctional from top to bottom, Old Trafford might be the worst arena for him to play out the string. It’s almost unimaginable that he’ll want to stay another season. But where would he go?

PSG, on the other hand, are cruising to a Ligue 1 title they may wrap up in April. Half the team is injured half the time, but the squad is so star-studded and impressively deep that it really doesn’t matter. Messi doesn’t even have to show up for his side to win — even when he’s in it. It’s basically a semi-retirement.

So, that’s it then? The goats are out to pasture?

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre’s newsletter that is sent out each Thursday.

Sign up for On Sports

Every statistical and biological indicator would suggest that’s the case, and that’s fine. They’re two of the greatest—likely “the” two greatest — footballers in history, and we’ve been blessed with the unprecedented scenario of seeing them not overlap, but dominate in the same generation.

It’s precisely because they’re the greatest, because we’ve never seen this sort of thing before, that it’s all a bit unsure. Honestly, if one or both came roaring back, even if one led his country to a World Cup triumph in December, we wouldn’t be all that surprised. It’s Ronaldo and Messi, after all.

Is this the end?

It’s probably best to leave it in the form of a question.

[email protected]

Twitter @JerradPeters