380,000 fans vote on greatest of all time: Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo (see result)

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have overshadowed other sports news following their heroics in this week’s Champions League matches.

On Tuesday night, Ronaldo’s hat-trick ensured Juventus see-off Atletico Madrid in the last-16 round to progress to the quarter-finals.

The Old Lady’s suffered a 2-0 defeat in the first leg clash, but their star Ronaldo, who joined the Turin-based outfit was in hand to nod home two headers alongside a spot-kick.

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However, on Wednesday, Messi showed class after netting a brace in Barcelona's 5-1 bashing of Lyon to seal their spot in the quarter-final round.

Messi, who doubles as Argentina and Barcelona captain, netted the game’s opener in the 18th minute of the match with a top-class Panenka spot-kick before tearing part Lyon's defence line to net his second goal.

The Argentinean also assisted the pair of Gerard Pique and Ousmane Dembele after Philippe Coutinho scored Barca’s second.

Interestingly, the performances of Messi and Ronaldo in their respective UCL games, further revived the question of 'who is truly the world’s greatest footballer of all time?’

According to Give Me Football, it is a herculean task to differentiate the two stars, even as Messi was rated a better player technically.

But the football website stressed Ronaldo cannot be dismissed with a wave of hand especially in big matches

At the last count, former England star Gary Lineker challenged football fans via Twitter, to pick their best after seeing the Portuguese net a hat-trick.

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And after the one-day exercise over 380,000 fans participated and the following result emerged:

Lionel Messi - 62%

Cristiano Ronaldo - 38%

A further breakdown of the result revealed that mist fans opted for Messi as the greatest footballer than Ronaldo.

However, the fact remains that the duo are this generation’s greatest football players, and we should endeavour to celebrate them irrespective of your choice while they are still active.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Barcelona thrashed Lyon 5-1 to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday, March 13, in a last-16 clash at Camp Nou.

The encounter saw a decent performance from the home-side that had the likes of Clement Lenglet, Sergi Roberto and Ivan Rakitic join the squad after sitting out last weekend’s win over Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.

Barcelona had the first chance to score in the 18th minute after Lyon defender Jason Denayer fouled Luis Suarez inside the vital area and Lionel Messi stepped up to convert from the spot.

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Source: Legit.ng