There's a crucial reason why both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are thriving in Europe but struggling domestically this season

• Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are both thriving in Europe, but struggling domestically this season.
• Messi has only scored once in France since joining PSG, while Ronaldo has been benched twice by Manchester United.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are, in many ways, the antithesis of one another. Skill versus physique, teamwork versus individuality, natural talent versus work ethic.

This season, however, the two soccer superstars share something in common: They are both thriving in European competition, but struggling domestically.

Messi bagged a brace as Paris Saint-Germain swept aside Club Brugge 4-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday night, taking his goal total in the competition this year to five in five games.

Yet in Ligue 1, the Argentine has managed just one goal in nine.

Ronaldo has scored six goals in five Champions League games for Manchester United this season, a total he will be expected to add to when Ralf Rangnick's side face BSC Young Boys in its final group game on Wednesday.

In the Premier League, he's managed six in 12, but has twice been dropped to the bench, and his lackluster performances have come under heavy scrutiny.

So why the difference?

They say practice makes perfect, and Messi and Ronaldo have both had plenty of practice playing in the Champions League.

Between them, the pair boast over 35 years of experience of playing in Europe's elite competition. Ronaldo has played a record 181 times in the tournament since making his debut in 2003, while Messi has earned 154 caps since his first appearance in 2005.

While their experience in the competition is of course a factor to their exploits this season, it is the opposition in their respective groups which best explains why they are both flourishing.

In Group F with United are Villarreal, Atalanta, and Young Boys, which for Ronaldo, represents a concoction of opponents and styles he is all too familiar with playing against.

In nine seasons in Spain with Real Madrid between 2009 and 2018, the Portugal international came up against Villarreal 15 times, scoring 13 goals. In three years in Italy with Juventus between 2018 and 2021, Ronaldo played against Atalanta six times, scoring three goals.

Though Young Boys are the anomaly, Ronaldo has a good record against other Swiss teams in the Champions League. In four matches against FC Basel and FC Zurich, he's scored four goals, averaging a strike every 73 minutes.

In Messi's case, he has been up against Manchester City, RB Leipzig, and Brugge. None of these teams are from countries where he has played, but he still knows the opposition well — none more so than City and its manager, Pep Guardiola.

Messi spent four seasons under the tutelage of Guardiola at FC Barcelona between 2008 and 2012, during which time he produced the best form of his career.

Playing in a 4-3-3 system acting mostly as a false-nine, the Argentine — in-front of a technically elite, tricky midfielders and flanked by pacy, unselfish wingers — scored 211 goals in 219 matches.

Guardiola employs the same system at City today and it is one Messi still understands well, as demonstrated best by his superstar performance in PSG's 1-0 win over the Premier League outfit in September.

In the Champions League this season, Messi and Ronaldo are on familiar ground, but domestically the pair are in uncharted waters – or in Ronaldo's case, waters that have vastly changed since he last played in the Premier League 13 years ago.

Though currently treading water, in time, both will learn how to swim.