BARCELONA: Cristiano Ronaldo has made his claim. Now he has to live up to it.
Ronaldo will face Lionel Messi tomorrow for the first time since the Portugal forward declared himself 鈥渢he best player in the history鈥� of football after equaling the Argentine鈥檚 five Ballon d鈥橭r awards this month.
Basking in the spotlight of a glitzy ceremony under the Eiffel Tower, Ronaldo felt confident enough to put himself at the pinnacle of the sport, ahead of Messi and other greats like Pele and Diego Maradona.
鈥淵ou will go and say that I have a big head, but when you鈥檙e at the top, it鈥檚 normal that you鈥檙e criticized,鈥� he told France Football. 鈥淚 am the best player in history, in both good and bad times.鈥�
Personalities aside, Ronaldo has a tough case to make.
He and Messi both have four Champions League titles, but Messi鈥檚 eight Spanish league titles double Ronaldo鈥檚 tally for Madrid and Manchester United.
Messi also has the edge in their head-to-head duels. Messi has outscored Ronaldo 19-17 since Ronaldo joined Madrid in 2009. Before that, Messi scored in a 2-0 win over Ronaldo鈥檚 Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final.
The Barcelona-led Messi have also had a clear advantage over Ronaldo鈥檚 Madrid. Messi has helped Barcelona beat Ronaldo鈥檚 side 13 times, to eight wins for Madrid and seven draws.
Overall, Messi holds the 鈥渃lasico鈥� record with 24 goals in 36 matches. Ronaldo is one goal shy of matching Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano鈥檚 18 goals against Barcelona.
The camera-shy Messi insisted again this Monday when he was recognized for leading the Spanish league in goals last campaign that he put more value on team titles than individual honors.
鈥淭itles are our goal,鈥� Messi said. 鈥淚f individual statistics are there also, that鈥檚 even better, but they are not the objective.鈥�
Ronaldo has no doubt closed the gap with Messi after he led Madrid to back-to-back Champions League titles in the past two seasons. But for Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres, this past decade is still set to bear Messi鈥檚 mark.
鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for (Ronaldo), Messi would have won twice as much,鈥� Torres said on Wednesday. 鈥淲hat Ronaldo has done in the age of Messi says a lot about him.鈥�
Ronaldo will need to be at his best tomorrow because anything other than a victory will deal a huge blow to Madrid鈥檚 title defense before the season even reaches its midway point.
Real enter the match in fourth place and trailing Barcelona by a mammoth 11 with a match in hand. Atletico Madrid and Valencia are in second and third.
鈥淕iven the situation we are in we are obligated to win,鈥� Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said.
Messi had one of his most memorable performances at Madrid last season when he scored his second of two brilliant goals in stoppage time to silence the Santiago Bernabeu.
Madrid got revenge with wins of 3-1 and 2-0 in the Spanish Super Cup in August, when Barcelona were reeling from the departure of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde, however, quickly rallied his team and the Catalan club have not lost since, a run of 24 matches. With Neymar gone, Valverde has succeeded in tightening up Barcelona鈥檚 defense.
鈥淚t would be important to win for everything that would represent, since the match is so special, and we are playing at their ground,鈥� Messi said. 鈥淭here would still be a long way to go for the league title, but a victory would be a nice before the Christmas break.鈥�