Messi and Ronaldo have become such an omnipresent part of sports that I knew who they were even before I started getting into soccer in the last year. I hadn't seen them play, I didn't know their statistics, but I knew that they were good, and possibly the greatest of all time. As I got into soccer and started spending some time doing research about the game, I discovered just how good the two players were, and how much they dominated their sport.

Reading this book felt like a very good primer for someone like me - a person just getting into soccer and wanting to know more about it. I learned a great deal from it, and while I doubt that their army of fans would discover anything new, I would imagine this is one of the first times that all this information has been collected into one specific book. I could very well be wrong about that.

One of the best things that this book has going for it was that it presented the two of them in rivalry, even when they weren't. Additionally, the focus on how they remade soccer's monetary model was eye opening. Clegg did a great job of zooming in and out on the players and their ripple effects on the game and business of soccer. One of the most interesting parts of this book was how Clegg approached both superstars and their approach to the fans and media. The players both present in different ways, Ronaldo as a preening superstar, wanting the world to know about him, while Messi is quiet and just wants to play soccer. However, Clegg was able to strip away some of the image they've presented to find the similarities between the two personalities and recognize that what we see may not be the truth about each player.

Overall, a very enjoyable book that is written in an engaging style.

A few years ago there was a news story about a Spanish tennis fan coming out of an 11-year coma who was amazed that his favorite player Roger Federer was still dominant and winning Grand Slams. I don’t remember reading about any similar accounts around supporters of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi but their long and concurrent reigns at the top of global soccer are certainly remarkable. From 2008 to 2018 one of the two won FIFA’s Golden Boot as the top player and the internet is full of arguments, articles, and websites devoted to determining which player is superior.

Despite its title, Messi vs. Ronaldo isn’t really about determining the winner of the matchup. Good thing to, given that it was published before Messi’s Argentina won the 2022 World Cup while Ronaldo was benched over large chunks of the competition and had his contract terminated by Manchester United during the same time period. Rather, it examines the rivalry itself and the factors on and off the field that helped both players ascend to such lofty heights. It’s a solid read about the rise of modern international soccer, especially if you’re interested in the business side of the sport.

Robinson and Clegg both cover sports for the Wall Street Journal and bring deep knowledge of the sport and business savvy. The reader gets a history of both player’s careers as well as the growth of sponsorships, the English Premier League and other top-flight leagues, mega-teams like Manchester United and FC Barcelona, soccer media, and more. The biographical details and big career moments may be old hat to some readers more familiar to such players (having only really started to follow the sport in the mid-2010s I found the earlier biographical portions more insightful), but the book shines with covering the economic forces that elevated both players into major international celebrity. Accounts such as how Nike got into soccer cleats and how teams sold off sponsorship rights in basically every possible economic sector were especially fascinating to me.

Again, there’s not going to be anything about the 2022 World Cup or Ronaldo’s recent decline and the coverage of Portugal’s 2016 Euros win or Messi’s courtship with Paris Saint-Germain may not add a ton to those subjects and the authors don’t care about deciding who is better (though I’d assume most would lean towards Messi after what just transpired in Qatar). Instead, the book aims to chronicle the rise of modern soccer through the deeply interconnected histories of two of its biggest stars, and it does a very good job of that.

8/10

Discussions and debates about the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of a particular sport are common today and in international soccer circles, that discussion today revolves around two players – Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo. Strong cases can be made for both players and this book, while very interesting, does not help someone make a case for one or the other to be considered better.

The first bit of advice for reading this book comes early – the authors state that this is not intended to be a dual biography of the two legends but instead a thorough look at their careers from playing the game early in life through their rise to their professional teams by examining the business side of international soccer and how it affected them. There is in-depth information on the two clubs that both players spent the bulk of their careers, and it is no coincidence that they are two of the most famous clubs in European soccer – Real Madrid (Ronaldo) and FC Barcelona (Messi). Because of both the celebrity of the players and the name recognition of their clubs, Messi and Ronaldo’s rise in fame also helped bring a revolution in the business of international soccer.

Of course, the authors write about other factors that brought this about such as social media and the influx of money, especially American money, that changed the economics for many of the “super clubs” forever, but no matter what business topic is discussed, the text will circle back to one of these two players. A reader who follows soccer leagues such as the Premier League (both players spent time with clubs in that circuit) or La Liga will find the business discussion quite interesting. One who may not follow this subject as closely may not be as engrossed but will still learn some very interesting facts on international soccer.

I will give an example of one that I learned about the Premier League. Its status as one of the most profitable leagues in the world started when it signed a lucrative television contract with a similarly struggling network at the time, Sky Sports, owned by Rupert Murdoch. Around the same time in the United States, another struggling Murdoch network, Fox, engaged in a similar contract with the National Football League. Both leagues and both networks were never the same again.

This is not to say there is no text on the accomplishments on the field by Messi and Ronaldo – there is a good amount of that as well. There certainly was jealousy between the two in competition for individual awards. Even the most casual of sports fans do realize the greatness of these two as their names are as recognizable as ones like Pele and Beckenbauer for previous generations of soccer fans. If one wants to learn more about either the business of international soccer or a little more on the two players, this is a good source.

I wish to thank Mariner Books for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really great read. Not only was it a personal biography of both Ronaldo and Messi, but a breakdown of the cultural significance of both clubs having immensely talented players at the same time.

As a relatively new soccer fan (10 years or so), my grasp on soccer history is admittedly limited. But even I knew that the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry was that of possible greatest ever against possible greatest ever. Getting a fuller view of this rivalry is helpful, but this book is more than that. Offering a survey of the greater football world and the world in general as it relates to this iconic rivalry, this book will sustain interest and expand knowledge for any who read.

ARC provided.

I've been a big fan of 'The Club' and this is a really great sequel to that book.

I couldn't put it down. I ended up running for about 2 hours on the treadmill so that I could keep reading.

I like the balance between the business side of things and the sports side of things. Solid book.

In "Messi vs. Ronaldo," authors Clegg and Robinson take on the story of two mythical living legends of football (soccer), and do it in compelling, insightful reading that makes for a book that you won't put down. It a must-read for any football fan and an excellent primer for someone who's not familiar with el logo bonito but has surely heard of Messi and Ronaldo. The reporting skill that the authors possess is richly displayed in the writing about these two mysterious leviathans of football. Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the opportunity to preview this book. #MessivsRonaldo #NetGalley #MarinerBooks

Fanatic book!!! 5 stars!!! I could not put the book down. Ronaldo and Messi had such different yet very similar careers from their humble beginning to the tail end of two amazing careers. The authors did a great job going back and forth between Ronaldo and Messi lives touching on everything from legal battles and the Jorges to all the Classico’s. So many great memories relived reading this book. I highly recommend reading Messi vs Ronaldo no matter which you root for.