After missing the last four matches with knee and muscle problems in his left leg, Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to training with Real Madrid. The reigning FIFA Ballon d'Or winner is currently the leading goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League (14) and is on the cusp of taking yet something else from his most fiercest rival, Lionel Messi.
Ronaldo's 14 goals are equal to that of the record-setting year Messi experienced in 2011-12, but will scoring an illustrious 15th be enough to automatically supplant the Argentine for the best European campaign?
Let's look at the numbers.
In terms of value, Ronaldo's season is carrying the edge. Forty percent of Barcelona's 35 goals in 2011-12 were attributed to Messi. Real Madrid enter Wednesday's encounter with Bayern Munich scoring three fewer goals (32), raising Ronaldo's contribution to 44 percent.
Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 14 of Real Madrid's 32 goals.
— BlancoStats (@BlancoStats) April 22, 2014
That, however, doesn't tell the entire story.
A whopping 35 percent of Messi's total in 2011-12 came in a single match—a 7-1 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of the Round of 16. He would only score in six of his 11 appearances.
The numbers are far more flattering for Ronaldo.
Not only is he responsible for a higher percentage of his club's goals, but CR7 has been a more consistent contributor than his counterpart. Ronaldo scored in five of the six group stage matches and in eight of his nine appearances.
As with the entirety of this debate, all angles are subjective. With Ronaldo able to return to training, the opportunity is there to rise to the summit of Champions League scoring and only add to the plethora of narratives.
What won't be subjective, however, is the end result.
Messi was unable to capture the Champions League crown in 2012—being bounced out of the semifinal to Chelsea 3-2 on aggregate. Ronaldo's campaign is yet to suffer the same fate, and until it does, the ultimate tiebreaker is there to be had.
Which player will have the best Champions League performance of all time: Messi or Ronaldo? Tell us @SportsWN
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