The Champions League used to be a stage that belonged only to Messi and Ronaldo, but this stage abandoned them. For two consecutive seasons, both Golden Ballon d'Ors stopped in the Champions League round of 16. Not only that, C Luo also for the first time in 12 years, the four major empty.
Two years without reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League
Messi and C Ronaldo have been able to dominate the world football for more than a decade, relying on super stability. However, as they age, they may never be able to return to full level.
Since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, Ronaldo has never reached the round of 16, and has been eliminated by Lyon, Porto and Atletico, which is the first time in his career.
At the same time, Messi has also missed the Champions League quarterfinals for two consecutive seasons, being eliminated by Paris when he played for Barca last season, and was eliminated by Real Madrid when he switched to Paris this season.
Not only that, after Manchester United was eliminated from the Champions League, C Ronaldo did not get any results in a single season for the first time in 12 years, and last season, he also won the Italian Cup and the Italian Super Cup with Juve.
4 shots from 9 to 0 shots
Facing Atletico, who had completed four hat-tricks, Cristiano Ronaldo did not even have 1 shot on goal, and a barb shot was also awarded offside. In his long career, this is only the third time for Cristiano Ronaldo, the first time against Panathinaikos in 2003 and the second time against Barca in 2011.
This means that the battle against Atletico is the first time in nearly 12 years that Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 0 shots in a single game in the Champions League. Similarly, Messi also handed over an embarrassing number of 0 shots on goal against Nice in early March.
In fact, against Tottenham, Ronaldo scored 3 goals in 5 of his 8 shots on goal, so he was rated 9.7 points. However, after the end of the battle against Atletico, the team newspaper only gave Ronaldo 1 point.
In just four days, from 9 shots in a single game to 3 goals to 0 shots, it reflects the problem of Ronaldo. Before tottenham Hotspur, Ronaldo got plenty of rest and even flew back to Portugal to recuperate, which made his physical fitness and state quite outstanding. However, the 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo is no longer able to cope with multi-front combat, which has caused his performance at Atletico to plummet.
0 goals in 4 games in the round of 16
Messi's situation is somewhat different from Ronaldo's, changing clubs for the first time in his career, Pochettino's tactical chaos, and the infection with the new crown have made the Argentine a little confused. However, like Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi cannot maintain continuity.
In this season, Messi has never scored in two consecutive games, and after giving 6 assists in five games at one point, Messi has only scored 2 Ligue 1 games. Like Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi has never scored or assisted in his two Champions League round of 16 games against Real Madrid.
The ratings of the media can also be seen in the lack of continuity between the two, even in December 2021, C Luo can get both 8.4 points and a low score of 6.4 points. After entering 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo broke out in a match against Tottenham, but in the last 10 games, the Portuguese have played 7 games under 6 points.
Messi is in a slightly better situation, but also high and low. He scored 9 and 2 points against Lille, but then scored 7.3 points against Rennes and 7.4 against Real Madrid. After scoring 8.7 points against Saint-Etienne, Messi scored 7.1 points, 7.2 points and 7.9 points in the next three games.
From the performance to the performance, the era belonging to C Ronaldo and Messi has come to an end, which is already an indisputable fact. The 2022 World Cup in Qatar may be their last flash. However, Ronaldo must first get the World Cup tickets.