**This is an analysis of why I think that Neymar is better than Ronaldinho.**

I'd been wanting to make this for a while, I typed this up on a google doc about a week ago.

**Ronaldinho’s stats for European Clubs (PSG, Barcelona, AC Milan).**  
Matches: 379  
Goals: 145  
Assists: 107  
Total G/A: 252  
G/A per game: 0.66  
Goals per game: 0.38  
Assists per game: 0.28

**Neymar’s stats for European Clubs (Barcelona, PSG).**  
Matches: 359  
Goals: 223  
Assists: 153  
Total G/A: 376  
G/A per game: 1.05  
Goals per game: 0.62  
Assists per game: 0.43

So, Neymar has more goals, assists, and total G/A than Ronaldinho in less games. His G/A-to-game, goal-to-game, and assist-per-game ratios are much higher than Ronaldinho’s. When playing for European Clubs, Neymar was a much more productive attacker than Ronaldinho, statistically.

**Ronaldinho’s stats for Brazil**  
Matches: 97  
Goals: 33  
Assists: 28  
Total G/A: 61  
G/A per game: 0.63  
Goals per game: 0.34  
Assists per game: 0.29

**Neymar’s stats for Brazil**  
Matches: 130  
Goals: 80  
Assists: 59  
Total G/A: 139  
G/A per game: 1.07  
Goals per game: 0.62  
Assists per game: 0.45

For the Selecao, Neymar has more goals, assists, and total G/A than Ronaldinho. He also has higher G/A-to-game, goal-to-game, and assist-to-game ratios compared to Ronaldinho. When representing Brazil, Neymar was the more productive attacker, statistically.

**Ronaldinho’s stats in the UCL**  
Matches: 47  
Goals: 18  
Assists: 12  
Total G/A: 30  
G/A per game: 0.64  
Goals per game: 0.38  
Assists per game: 0.26

**Neymar’s stats in the UCL**  
Matches: 81  
Goals: 43  
Assists: 28  
Total G/A: 71  
G/A per game: 0.88  
Goals per game: 0.53  
Assists per game: 0.35

In the biggest club stage in the world, Neymar has higher G/A-to-game, goal-to-game, and assist-to-game ratios compared to Ronaldinho.

**Further Elaboration**

Yes, Ronaldinho was Barcelona’s best player in their 2006 title win, leading them to lift the trophy despite Messi being injured in the Ro16. However, in 2015, Neymar scored 7 goals in 7 UCL knockout matches to win the UCL with Barcelona. The only reason he did not win the Ballon d’Or that year was because of Messi and Ronaldo. Years later, in the 2020 UCL knockouts, he had 4 g/a in 5 matches, leading PSG to the final against Bayern, where they unfortunately lost to Bayern Munich.

Those arguing for Ronaldinho may bring up his 2005 Ballon d’Or, which I do agree was deserved. In fact, I would argue that he also deserved the award in 2006, over Zidane and Cannavaro, but that’s a debate for another time. However, if he hadn’t been competing with the 2 greatest players of all time, Neymar would have won the award in 2015. I would argue that Neymar in his prime would have multiple Ballon d’Ors in multiple football eras (90’s, 2000’s, current era) apart from his own. He’s an example of “Right player, wrong time.”

Ronaldinho supporters might bring up his 1999 Copa America title and his 2002 World Cup title. Neymar has neither of those. They both have 1 Confederations Cup title each. Neymar has an Olympic Gold compared to Ronaldinho’s Bronze, but it’s not a very prestigious competition.  
However, it is important to note that Ronaldinho often had much better teammates than Neymar in the national team. He had teammates like R9, Rivaldo, Kaka, Lucio, Gilberto Silva, Roberto Carlos, and Cafu. I believe that if you swapped Neymar and Ronaldinho, putting Neymar with the previous players and Ronaldinho in the 2010’s Brazil team, Neymar would have had more success than Ronaldinho, likely winning the 2006 World Cup. Conversely, I don’t think Ronaldinho would have a lot of success in the 2010’s with Neymar’s teammates.

When it comes to the eyetest, Neymar and Ronaldinho are very similar. In their primes, they were both elite dribblers and playmakers. They could both progress the ball up the pitch and beat their man in duels. When two players are evenly matched in the eyetest, I think that is when it is fair to analyze stats and context, as we have previously done, which break the tie and favor Neymar.

You could argue that Ronaldinho played in a harder era compared to Neymar, competing with the likes of Zidane, R9, and Kaka, but I disagree. Neymar had to compete with Prime Messi, Prime Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, Gareth Bale, Salah, Robben, Aguero, and Luis Suarez. The 2010’s is arguably the most stacked era of football ever in terms of forward quality.

I also disagree with the notion that Ronaldinho was hurt more by defenders. Neymar is, statistically, the most fouled player of his generation, being fouled 3.72 times while playing in Europe. In the 17/18 season, he was fouled 5.2 times per game. That was the reason for all of the injuries in his career: Neymar was being constantly hacked by defenders because they simply couldn’t stop him in his prime. 

**This is why I believe Neymar to be better than Ronaldinho.**



Why Neymar is better than Ronaldinho from an eyetest, statstical, and logical perspective.