The battle between Ronaldo and Messi, collected in a few priceless pages

The battle between Ronaldo and Messi, collected in several priceless pages

Jimmy Burns' book on the battle for the greatest footballer is something extraordinary

The most modern rivalry in football, and perhaps the greatest of all time, is that between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. These two are, without a doubt, the greatest footballers of our time. Lots of articles have been written about them, not a few biographical books that tell the story of each one of them. Any fan of this game is well aware of the achievements, honors, highlights and not so great moments surrounding them.

However, there is one book that is ready to show us this clash in full, to provide us with the successes and failures of both in parallel. It is about the creation of Jimmy Burns "Ronaldo vs. Messi. The race for the greatest football player", or in English "Cristiano and Leo: The Race to Become the Greatest Football Player of All Time". Right from the author's name, it is clear that we will get true, accurate information that will be presented in the best possible way. For those who don't know him, we have to say that he is a journalist and writer born in Madrid who provided us with the best book about Maradona, namely The Hand of God. Burns has also written other books on football that are an absolute must-read. Even if you are a fan of Real Madrid, you just have to pay attention to "Barca: A People's Passion", translated into Bulgarian as "Barca: The People's Passion", which tells about the love for the blue-red team from Catalonia.

In the double autobiography, on Cristiano and Messi, Burns reveals details not only of the careers of both, but also what remains hidden behind the scenes. He compares their childhoods, bringing to light the things that inspire them, that build them as people, and through which the experiences each person needs to survive and pursue their dreams are gained. Through these details, we can more easily explain why Cristiano is vain, slightly selfish, but determined to work harder and better than anyone else, as well as the fact that Messi is less interested in publicity and at the same time does not afraid to exercise his immense power.

The strength of the book is that we don't just see the author's opinion and compare a number of facts and statistics about the two greats. Burns interviews a huge number of people from whom we can get a far better insight into Ronaldo and Messi. Among them are names like Florentino Perez, but also people who grew up with them, know them since they were children or are part of their lives outside of football. In addition to the interviews, Burns' analysis adds the necessary color to make "Ronaldo vs. Messi" a reel and a double, if rather unusual, autobiography.

The only problem comes from the fact that the book was published in 2018, when both footballers are still active. The details we get about the matches in which the two shine, or in which they are against each other on the field, lose some of their value. So Burns risks not holding interest for long if there are more stories surrounding their on-field rivalry.

Certainly, Cristiano and Messi have a lot to show us, although today they are far from the times when there were simply no other players besides them, although they are already far from the Spanish championship and, respectively, from Real Madrid and Barcelona. What we can learn about them, which is valuable and significant, by reading Burns' book, is the different perspective given to us through the interviews of a variety of people who knew the two great stars. She gives us great analysis and a wonderful one-on-one very successful, especially when it comes to football resumes, writer.