Messi vs Ronaldo in 2019: sixth ballon d'or, last 50-goal year.

Messi scored 50 in 2019 to Ronaldo's 39 — his ninth-best year and Ronaldo's joint 16th. It was the widest margin in Messi's favour since 2012, and the first year since 2009 in which Ronaldo finished below 40.

Both produced a hat-trick within three days of each other in March. Messi's, on 9 March against Real Betis, included a chipped Panenka free kick that the home crowd applauded. Ronaldo's, on 12 March, overturned a 2–0 first-leg deficit on his own as Juventus knocked Atlético Madrid out of the Champions League round of 16.

In June, Ronaldo won his second trophy with Portugal: the inaugural UEFA Nations League, beating the Netherlands 1–0 at home in Porto. The 2019–20 season he began that autumn brought 37 goals in 46 games and a Juventus record of scoring in eleven consecutive Serie A matches.

Messi took a sixth Ballon d'Or, with Ronaldo third. Around this time Ronaldo put the longevity plainly: "We have shared the stage for 15 years. Imagine that — me and Messi, for 15 years. I don't know if it has ever happened before in any sport."

2019 is the last year either man scored 50 in a calendar year. Messi's 50 closes a run of 11 straight years scoring at least 45, from 2009 onwards; he has not reached 45 since. Ronaldo's own long run above 39 ended here too — 12 years from 2010 — and their 89 combined is the 12th-lowest of the 22 years on record.