Despite scoring fewer goals than Cristiano Ronaldo in 2014, Lionel Messi's goals have been more important than those of the Ballon d'Or winner - claims the Economist.
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The world famous economy magazine has analysed Messi and Ronaldo's goal return over the last two years and came to the conclusion that the Barcelona star is more decisive than the Portuguese,
The Economist authors have looked at data that values each and every single goal scored by Messi and Ronaldo, but they rate a 90th minute winner more than the fifth or sixth goal in a comfortable rout for their respective teams – they called this extra value as "EPA, Expected Points Added".
They explain how Messi has scored some hugely important goals, despite scoring less, whilst the Real Madrid star often simply added to a brutal scoreline.
"Although he (Ronaldo) assured himself a second straight Ballon d'Or with three goals in the semi-final and final of last year's Champions League, all of them were mere pile-ons," explains the Economist author.
"In the return leg against Bayern Munich, he scored when Los Blancos already led 3-0 and 4-0 in the aggregate, for a combined EPA of just 0.29. And in the final, his score was a penalty kick in extra time when Real Madrid already enjoyed a 3-1 lead, yielding a trivial 0.004 of EPA."
Messi, meanwhile, "showed a remarkable knack for scoring when it counted: on five different occasions in 2013 and 2014, he netted a tie-breaking goal in the final 20 minutes of a contest."
The author then went on to calculate the importance of game into his analysis, based on the obvious fact that a goal at the World Cup group stages counts more than a strike in a normal La Liga game.
"After factoring in the importance of a match, Mr Messi pulls away with a 59.5 weighted EPA in 2013 and 2014 (an average of 0.69 per goal), compared with 50.4 for the Ballon d'Or winner (an average of 0.48).
"By EPA alone, Mr Messi's most valuable goal during the past two years was a 91st-minute winner on neutral turf. But he delivered this coup de grace not to a lowly opponent in La Liga, but rather to Iran in the group stage of the World Cup, a match that attracts 4.7 times more interest.
"He also scored twice, breaking a tie both times, in Argentina's match against Nigeria four days later.
"In contrast, Mr Ronaldo only found the net once during the Cup, against Ghana. And even that goal had a marginal impact: although it was the deciding score in the match, Portugal needed a four-goal swing relative to the United States to advance out of its group. As a result, Mr Ronaldo's yeoman effort did nothing to prevent his countrymen from heading home early."
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