IF looks could kill, Cristiano Ronaldo might never have made it off the stage in Zurich. The Ballon d’Or winner’s now infamous war cry upon accepting his accolade was greeted with chuckles by all except Lionel Messi, whose thousand-yard glare concealed a burning fury. In the intervening five months the Argentine has used that disappointment and ignominy to fuel Barcelona’s glorious treble, with Ronaldo now forced to watch on as his arch-enemy bathes in the plaudits.
Though not a scorer on the night – nor as individually resplendent as he had been against Bayern Munich or Manchester City – Messi was nevertheless central to the demolition of Juventus in the Champions League final; his crossfield pass created the overload for the opener, his fierce shot was palmed into the path of Luis Suarez for the second, and his toe-poke launched the stoppage-time counter that sparked pandemonium in Berlin.
In many ways it was a performance that encapsulated the contrast between these two great foes; Messi was influential and decisive without ever stealing the limelight, scheming almost unnoticed, while Ronaldo’s grandest moments have always placed him at the centre of the drama. Even in the build-up to Saturday’s final, the Portuguese’s garish yellow swimming trunks and impromptu pit stop made more of a ruckus than anything Messi did.
Their tête-à-tête has been the defining narrative of this era of football, but it remains to be seen whether Messi’s astonishing revival in 2015 will be the defining chapter. Some critics wondered if the Argentine’s best days were behind him after falling just short in the World Cup and finishing last season trophyless, but, as has so often been the case, he was stirred to take his game to another level largely by Ronaldo. Now the onus is on CR7 to do the same.
Muite where Ronaldo goes from here is another matter. He did, after all, out-score every player in Europe this season with his incredible haul of 48 league goals in just 35 appearances. It is hard to imagine how he can get any better – but then the same was thought of Messi at the turn of the year, right before he clocked up 54 combined goals and assists in 2015 alone.
Messi’s motivation was rooted in vengeance – Thierry Henry recounts a Barcelona training session in which La Pulga was fouled, immediately demanded the ball and proceeded to dribble past the entire team before walloping the ball into the back of the net – whereas the force that drives Ronaldo is a desire to not just be great, but to be the best. He isn’t any more. At 30 years old, can he do what is necessary to reclaim that mantle?
Not without a little more help from Real Madrid. While Florentino Perez has been funding transfer records by continually selling off Ronaldo’s most trusted partners in crime (first Mesut Ozil to Arsenal, than Angel Di Maria to Manchester United), Barca have steadily acquired the perfect foils for Messi. The Catalans’ dealings, while still flawed, were designed around their star man, Real’s have increasingly revolved around life after their star man.
Failing to take advantage of Barcelona’s transfer ban, Madrid’s incoherent strategy has seen them overloaded with incompatible Galcaticos yet, for part of the season at least, reliant on a loan signing for goals. Even now the latest saga enveloping the Bernabeu, namely trying to bring David de Gea back to Madrid, could have been avoided had the club begun searching for a successor to Iker Casillas when Jose Mourinho first tried to phase him out.
Curiously, new boss Rafa Benitez could be the perfect manager for Ronaldo. The Spaniard’s defensive stereotype might seem at odds with the goal hungry Portuguese’s scoring addiction, but he is a far more positive coach than he is often given credit for. He has already earmarked a long overdue tactical shift that would see Ronaldo lead the line as a true No.9 – a ploy that would not only get the best out of Ronaldo, but benefit Madrid, too.
Benitez has form for wanting to redeploy ageing stars; he always saw Steven Gerrard’s best position in his twilight years as being further forward, not the deep-lying role that he occupied under Brendan Rodgers. Speaking in 2008, he said of his then captain: “When he is older and does not have the same pace, he will still have the accuracy and he can still be a great finisher. So maybe he can play as a striker.”
Now that theory can be tested on Ronaldo, though he has long displayed all the characteristics of a pure striker. Gone are the mazy runs and long-range, knuckleball drives for which he was so noted at Manchester United, replaced instead by an efficiency that not even Messi can match.
“He was always thinking: ‘That ball comes to me, I hit it top corner.’ I needed him to get out of that,” recounts former coach Rene Meulensteen of his discussions with the then winger and his fetish for unnecessary stepovers. “I told him: ‘It doesn’t matter how you score, where you score, as long as the ball goes in the net.’”
Colour-coding the goal and drilling the Portuguese’s finishing until it became muscle memory has given him a skillset more akin to a poacher, with 43 of his 48 Liga goals this term coming from inside the box, and 85 per cent scored with his first touch. Style and panache have taken a backseat, but at home to Juventus, where he was denied his usual service inside the area, he could not summon any of his old magic, instead taking 15 fewer touches than the infinitely more maligned Gareth Bale as Real wilted.
Indeed, a change in role and formation is a natural progression.  It may even be the perfect solution for Ronaldo ahead of what could be a last hurrah in this most intriguing of sporting rivalries: a reinvention. In the eyes of many, Messi’s magic and selflessness will always give him the edge over his eternal foe, but Ronaldo’s resilience and determination will define his career when the time comes to hang up his boots. Said to be frustrated that his incredible goal tally has yielded so few trophies at the Bernabeu, Ronaldo and Real Madrid now need each other more than ever.
Barcelona’s victory in the Champions League not only highlighted a gulf in class on the pitch, but off it, too. The Catalans, even embroiled in scandal, found a way to supplement Messi and fix weaknesses. Real did neither. That must be corrected this summer if Ronaldo is to hit back – and, with Euro 2016 offering the chance to single-handedly drag his nation to glory a la Pele and Diego Maradona, this could be his last real opportunity to stake his claim as football’s greatest.