Ronaldo v Raul: Who's better?
Cristiano Ronaldo and Raul Gonzalez are undeniably two of the greatest strikers to ever grace the Bernabeu.
Ronaldo is now just one goal away from Raul's record of 264 goal scoring games - an achievement that the Portuguese could equal when Real travel to Betis on Sunday. We take a look back at some head-to-head statistics of the two Galacticos.
- Striker's instinct -
Raul played an astonishing 741 games for 'Los Blancos', finding the net 323 times, making his goal-to-games ratio an impressive 0.436.
Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, has a jaw-dropping 431 goals in 423 games giving him a remarkably consistent ratio of 1.019.
Astonishingly, if Ronaldo went his next 300 games without scoring, he would still have the better goals-to-games ratio.
Ronaldo also recently joined an exclusive Champions League 100 club having scored twice against PSG to surpass a century of goals on Europe's biggest stage for Real Madrid. A truly incredible feat.
- Ballon d'Or -
Raul is often hailed as one of the greatest players to have never won the coveted prize, coming within touching distance of the glistening trophy in 2001 when he finished second to Michael Owen.
The Spaniard is, howver, the only player to be named UEFA Club Forward of the Year on three occassions.
Cristiano Ronaldo has dominated the Ballon d'Or award in recent years, winning it 5 times and eyeing up three years on-the-trot in 2018.
- International scale -
Both men have shone in their national jerseys. Raul scoring 44 times in 102 matches for Spain (0.431 per game) and Ronaldo grabbing 79 goals in 144 games for Portugal (0.549 per game).
Raul interestingly never won any major competitions with his country whilst Ronaldo's Portugal saw off France in their own backyard to win the Euros in 2016.
At the end of the day, no matter who is the better player, there is one fact that both men share - they'll both go down in history as two of the greatest players to have donned the famous white jersey of the Spanish capital.