BARCELONA trolled Juventus after their 2-0 win on Wednesday – saying: “We are glad you were able to see the GOAT on your pitch.”
Lionel Messi inspired the LaLiga side to a 2-0 Champions League win in a real clash of the titans in Turin.
However, frustratingly for fans, Cristiano Ronaldo was absent after returning a third positive coronavirus test.
Ronaldo instead donned his Juve shirt at home and ran on a treadmill to show his support for his team-mates.
Alvaro Morata scored a hat-trick of goals in the match – but ALL of them were ruled out by VAR.
And Messi made Juventus pay, laying on a superb assist for Ousmane Dembele, before scoring a 91st-minute penalty to seal all three points.
Not content with just the win, Barcelona‘s official Twitter account even went on to troll Juventus in a thinly-veiled swipe at Ronaldo.
Barca tweeted: “We are glad you were able to see the [goat emoji] on your pitch, @juventusfcen! [wink-kiss emoji]”
But Juventus didn’t take it lying down, giving as good as they got ahead of their December 8 rematch.
The Serie A giants replied: “You probably looked it up in the wrong dictionary. We’ll bring you the right one at Camp Nou. [magnifying glass and book emojis]”
But who’s right? Is Messi the GOAT or does that honour belong to Ronaldo? We’ve taken a look…
Two years Messi’s senior, Ronaldo has played more matches – at both club and international level.
Despite that, Messi is hot on his rival’s tail in terms of club goals – sitting just four behind on 637, to Ronaldo’s 641.
The Argentine boasts a far superior goals per game ratio, too – at an outrageous 0.86, to Ronaldo’s 0.75.
In terms of club trophies, Messi is king having taken home 34 in his illustrious career – including ten LaLiga titles and four Champions Leagues.
Ronaldo sits a few back on 28, including seven top-flight titles in England (Manchester United), Spain (Real Madrid) and Italy (Juventus).
He has also bagged five Champions League crowns, including four while at Real.
Internationally though, it’s the Portuguese star who comes out trumps.
Ronaldo has scored a legendary 101 goals in 167 games for his nation – at a rate of 0.6 goals per game.
Messi, meanwhile, has enjoyed a little less success – with 71 goals in 140 matches – for a record of 0.51 goals per game.
Messi has not won any senior international trophies – but did clinch Olympic gold at Beijing 2008, as well as the Under-20s World Cup in 2005.
But Ronaldo has helped Portugal to TWO pieces of silverware – at Euro 2016 and in the 2018-19 Nations League.
Individually, Messi has edged ahead of Ronaldo in terms of Ballons d’Or won – with six, to Ronaldo’s five.
But how have the pair fared in terms of head-to-head matches?
The duo have played each other 35 times, with Messi winning 16 and losing just ten – with the other nine matches drawn.
