Messi and Ronaldo's 12 year reign

There is a never-ending war of comparisons drawn between Messi and Ronaldo. The two players have spent their lives competing with each other, and there is always some metric that can be used to claim that one is better than the other. If you look at the two rivals together, however, the pair have built an astounding dynasty over their careers.

The 'Profootball DB' database allows us to examine the highest goalscorers in Europe's best leagues and competitions to see who are the top goalscorers in each age bracket, between the ages of 16 and 41. 

This data makes it clear that each player has had his moment in the sun. Messi is definded by his incredible early rise. The Argentinian was imperious between the ages of 21 and 25, reaching his peak at 24, with his incredible 64 goal season.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, is like a fine wine. The Real Madrid man came into his own at the age of 26, maintaining upwards of 50 goals a season from 27 to 30. 

One interesting stat from the data is Romelu Lukaku's impressive form at a young age. The Belgian was the top scorer for the 16 year old age bracket, when he scored 4 goals in just 10 games. The oldest goalscorer in the top leagues was Alessandro Costacurta, who managed to grab one goal at the age of 41.

Here is the full list of top goalscorers by age:

At the age of 16: Lukaku (4 goals in 10 games)

At the age of 17: Bojan (11/40)

At the age of 18: Mbappé (29/45)

At the age of 19: Agüero (24/46)

At the age of 20: Benzema (23/42)

At the age of 21: Messi (32/43

At the age of 22: Messi (42/46)

At the age of 23: Messi (43/46)

At the age of 24: Messi (64/48)

At the age of 25: Messi (54/43)

At the age of 26: Cristiano Ronaldo (47/44)

At the age of 27: Cristiano Ronaldo (56/50)

At the age of 28: Cristiano Ronaldo (50/45)

At the age of 29: Cristiano Ronaldo (50/39)

At the age of 30: Cristiano Ronaldo (55/51)

At the age of 31: Cristiano Ronaldo (36/41)

At the age of 32: Cristiano Ronaldo (39/44)

At the age of 33: Di Natale (32/36)

At the age of 34: Ibrahimovic (46/44)

At the age of 35: Di Natale (24/40)

At the age of 36: Aduriz (23/44)

At the age of 37: Luka Toni (21/37)

At the age of 38: Totti (11/34)

At the age of 39: Sheringham (6/19)

At the age of 40: Donato (2/11)

At the age of 41: Costacurta (1/1)