Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are pretty much in a dead heat with regards to specific measurements – goals, Ballons d’Or, etc – however one region where there is no comparison is discipline.
The Barcelona captain and the Juventus star are both wild contenders and they are known for allowing their tempers to pour out over once in a while when rivals figure out how to get into their heads or, to be sure, in case things aren’t turning out well for them on the pitch.
Messi was questionably shipped off in Argentina’s Copa America 2019 third-place play-off triumph against Chile in July following a warmed a showdown with Gary Medel. It was his first time seeing red in quite a while.
Ronaldo’s red card record is considerably more condemning than that of the Argentine, whose disagreeable excusal against La Roja was only his subsequent red card in his senior career.
Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi red cards
Date | Player | Match | Competition |
May 15, 2004 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Aston Villa 0-2 Manchester United | Premier League |
August 15, 2005 | Lionel Messi | Hungary 1-2 Argentina | International friendly |
January 14, 2006 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester City 3-1 Manchester United | Premier League |
August 15, 2007 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portsmouth 1-1 Manchester United | Premier League |
November 30, 2008 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United | Premier League |
December 5, 2009 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid 4-2 Almeria | La Liga |
January 24, 2010 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid 2-0 Malaga | La Liga |
May 17, 2013 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Real Madrid 1-2 Atletico Madrid | Copa del Rey |
February 2, 2014 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Athletic Club 1-1 Real Madrid | La Liga |
January 24, 2015 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Cordoba 1-2 Real Madrid | La Liga |
August 13, 2017 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Barcelona 1-3 Real Madrid | Supercopa |
September 19, 2018 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Valencia 0-2 Juventus | Champions League |
July 6, 2019 | Lionel Messi | Argentina 2-1 Chile | Copa America |
January 17, 2021 | Lionel Messi | Barcelona 2-3 Athletic Club | Supercopa |
Messi’s first red card came on his Argentina debut against Hungary in 2005. The Blaugrana star supplanted Lisandro Lopez on the 64th moment, yet his worldwide bow finished get-togethers two minutes when the then-18-year-old was considered to have struck VilmosVanczak – who was pulling the aggressor’s shirt. He was shown his first Barcelona red card after he lashed out in the Super Cup last in 2021.
Paradoxically, Ronaldo has been shipped off on numerous events while playing for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. Eminently, the Portuguese has demonstrated the fact that he is fairly inclined to flying off the handle in derby matches.
For instance, while playing for the Red Devils, Ronaldo was shipped off in Manchester derbies in 2006 and 2008, an absolutely careless foul on previous Man Utd legend Andy Cole procuring him his walking orders on the principal event.
During his time at Real Madrid, Ronaldo was shipped off in the 2013 Copa del Rey last against Atletico Madrid, a game wherein he additionally scored, however one that Los Blancos eventually lost.
He additionally has the differentiation of being shipped off in a Clasico match, having been shown red in the principal leg of the 2017 Supercopa de Espana, which was an exemplary in the Messi versus Ronaldo sort.
At the point when Ronaldo put Real Madrid 2-1 up on the 80th moment – unexpectedly counteracting Messi’s equalizer three minutes prior – the Portuguese took off his shirt and held it up to the Camp Nou swarm in disobedience.
Obviously, that shirtless presentation of incitement acquired him a booking and the Catalan group were given some comfort two minutes some other time when official Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea showed the Madrid man a second yellow for plunging.
A red card broadly decreased Ronaldo to tears in 2018 when he was shipped off not exactly 30 minutes into his first historically speaking Champions League match for Juventus.
With 29 minutes on the clock against Valencia at Mestalla, the Portuguese slammed into Jeison Murillo and the squabble brought about official Felix Brych showing the Juve forward a red card.
Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Red cards head-to-head
Player | Number of red cards | Straight red cards |
Lionel Messi | 3 | 3 |
Cristiano Ronaldo | 11 | 7 |
As you can see from the tables above, Ronaldo has a lot more unfortunate disciplinary record than Messi, with 11 red cards being displayed to him over the span of his senior vocation against the Argentine’s three.
Of Ronaldo’s 11 red cards, four came at Manchester United, six were shown when he wore the shades of Real Madrid and one arrived in a Juventus shirt. Seven of those excusals were straight reds.