Messi, Ronaldo and the past winners of the Goal 50

Mark Doyle

Messi, Ronaldo and the past winners of the Goal 50 image

GOAL 50

Since its inception in 2008, the Goal 50 has been dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Indeed, only one other player has ever got his hands on the prestigious prize: Wesley Sneijder, in 2010.

Is Rooney nearing a Man Utd recall?

That Ronaldo and Messi have claimed seven of the eight trophies is unsurprising, given the pair have been breaking records for fun over the past decade.

Ronaldo, of course, started out as a fleet-footed winger but towards the tail end of his Manchester United career, he was fast becoming the complete forward.

In his penultimate season at Old Trafford, he scored 42 goals in just 49 games in all competitions, with his fantastic form helping Alex Ferguson's side win the Champions League and earning the Portuguese the inaugural Goal 50 trophy.

However, the following season ushered in the era of "Tiki-taka," with Messi the chief beneficiary of the brilliance of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Co. Barcelona completed a historic treble by beating United in the Champions League final, with the Argentine rather symbolically outshining Ronaldo in Rome.

The baton had been passed — and so too had the Goal 50 award, with Messi taking it back to Catalunya for the first time.

Messi, like Barca, failed to defend his title, with Wesley Sneijder deservedly coming out on top in 2010. The Dutch playmaker may have been criminally overlooked by Ballon d'Or voters but he was named our No.1 player on the planet after playing a key role in Inter's treble triumph, as well as Netherlands' run to the World Cup final in South Africa.

Messi and Barca came storming back in 2011, with the Argentina international again on target as the Catalans defeated United in the Champions League final at Wembley. However, 2012 belonged to Ronaldo, who fired Real Madrid to a historic tally of 100 points in its title-winning campaign in La Liga.

By this stage, Messi and Ronaldo were bringing the best out of one another and the diminutive No.10 reasserted himself as the best player in the world with a stellar 2013, bagging a ridiculous 46 goals in 32 games in Barca's Primera Division success.

Ronaldo, though, is nothing if not resilient and he equalled Messi's record of three Goal 50 awards by scoring a staggering 17 times during Madrid's triumphant 2013-14 Champions League campaign.

However, 2015 belonged to Messi, who returned to his brilliant best as Barca become the first club ever to win two trebles, with the Rosario native netting 41 times in all competitions.

So, what now? Will Messi manage to hold onto his crown after helping the Blaugrana pull off a domestic double? Or will Ronaldo be rewarded for winning another Champions League with Madrid before then leading Portugal to victory at Euro 2016?

However, maybe, just maybe, we might see a new name on the trophy for the first time since 2010, with Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, Neymar, Gareth Bale and Gonzalo Higuain all having strong claims for the prize.

We'll soon find out, as on Monday, Nov. 7, we will start the Goal 50 countdown before publishing the top 10 four days later.

Until then, stick with us for exclusive interviews with the leading candidates, expert analysis from our club correspondents, galleries, videos and cartoons, as we build up to the announcement of this year's winner of The Goal 50.

Mark Doyle