Ronaldo planned to quit Manchester United in the summer of 2022 because he wanted to play Champions League soccer, which the Red Devils were unable to provide after finishing last in the Premier League the previous season, a record-low. Ronaldo remained a United player when the transfer window shut at the start of September because he was unable to sign with another team.
Messi spent the summer of 2022 much more leisurely than he did the summer of 2021, staying put at Paris Saint-Germain rather than switching teams like he did the previous year.
Messi has already scored more goals than Ronaldo in the 2022–2023 season. While Ronaldo didn’t score his first goal from open play until his tenth appearance, the PSG player has scored 12 goals in 17 appearances across all competitions. Ronaldo has only three goals in all competitions.
Messi currently leads the Portuguese international in assists with 13 to Ronaldo’s one.
In the same game that he scored his first goal in Ligue 1, Messi also provided his first assist of the campaign. Just eight minutes into the encounter against Clermont Foot, Neymar scored the game-winning goal when Messi opened up his foot and delicately bounced Pablo Sarabia’s cross into his path. Neymar came in at the very last spot.
He contributed his second assist in the 7-1 victory over Lille, in which he also scored. Then, in two games, he had four assists in victories over Toulouse, Nantes, and Brest, all by scores of 3-0 and 1-0, respectively. In the Champions League matchup with Maccabi Haifa, Messi also scored and had an assist. On October 21, he added two more assists. After this, he had ten assists.
He continued his streak the next week with two assists against Maccabi Haifa and one against Troyes. Ronaldo only provided one assist in the Europa League game against Omonia, which was for Marcus Rashford’s goal.