Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s stats compared this 2021/22 season

Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo and PSG Lionel Messi have come in for plenty of criticism this season.

Both GOAT rivals swapped clubs in the summer, with Ronaldo, 37, rejoining Manchester United and Messi, 34, heading to Paris Saint-Germain.

Neither star has enjoyed their best season ever - far from it, in fact.

But, by the standards of mere mortals, they've still enjoyed excellent campaigns.

While the new era of superstars like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe look to take over from Messi and Ronaldo, the veteran legends still have something to offer.

But who has enjoyed the better season? SunSport takes a look at the all-important numbers...

So often forwards are rated and slated purely on goals scored - and Ronaldo comfortably leads the way in that area.

The Portuguese striker has netted 22 times for Man Utd this season, with Messi way back on nine - both with two penalties apiece.

But Messi, unlike Ronaldo, is flanked by superstar teammates and can sacrifice goal-scoring in the interest of setting up his pals.

And the Argentine has racked up 13 assists this season – ten more than Ronaldo's three.

So in all, Ronaldo has been involved in three more goals - 25 vs 22.

However, he's also played more and Messi actually boasts better minutes per goal involvement ratio at 114.2 compared to Ronaldo's 118.

Shooting-wise, Ronaldo has been more accurate than his rival and converting his efforts at a higher rate.

The United ace has hit the target with 54.5 per cent of his shots, compared to Messi's 45.8 per cent, while scoring with a decent 16.5 per cent.

The PSG man's conversion rate is way down at just 9.1 per cent.

However, Messi bests his old rival in terms of dribbling and passing.

The Argentine icon has completed 86.1 per cent of all passes this season, compared to Ronaldo's 82.2 per cent.

Messi has also enjoyed more success when on the ball, completing 60.6 of his dribbles with the United man not far behind on 56.6 per cent.

So who has enjoyed the better season overall?

Simply put, they're both doing what their teams need.

Man Utd need a striker to put the ball in the net with Ralf Rangnick desperately short in that department, while Mauricio Pochettino boasts a star-studded front-three of Messi, Mbappe and Neymar.

As fans, we're very quick to compare the to legends - but the fact they're still playing at such a high level is a joy to watch. Let's enjoy it while we still can.