The director of research or data within Liverpool, the physicist Ian Graham has solved with the help of science, the debate on the 'GOAT' or the greatest player of all time between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Football's age-old question continues to rage across the board, with Graham taking a deeper look at the data collected and analysed, revealing a clear winner.
Speaking to an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival this week, he named the 'biggest of all time' through data.
"It's Messi," Graham revealed to the audience.
Messi and Ronaldo both claimed to be the greatest of all time after their legendary La Liga rivalry.
The former Barcelona player and former Real Madrid superstar have scored more than 800 goals and won 76 major trophies together, including the World Cup, which Messi lifted in Qatar.
But when the two strikers were ranked using sophisticated models to assess their wider contribution to their respective team's success, the Argentine was clearly ahead of his rival.
"The difference is that Messi is also a world-class attacking midfielder. The chances he creates for his teammates are an order of magnitude greater than Ronaldo's."
"Messi does two jobs brilliantly. Ronaldo does a great job. This is the difference", concluded the English physicist.
The 35-year-old increased his claim to 'GOAT' status after his heroics at the 2022 World Cup. He won the tournament's best player award while playing for his national team Argentina.
The seven-time Ballon d'Or winner announced on Wednesday that he was signing for Major League Soccer side Inter Miami following his departure from Paris Saint-Germain.
He will play in the United States, having enjoyed his entire professional career in Europe, with Barcelona and PSG. /Telegraph/
