In the football world a huge section of the fans are admirers of Lionel Messi and another huge section are admirers of Cristiano Ronaldo. Then there are people who just admire them both. These two players have set the pitch alive with their mesmerizing performances over the years.

But what if there existed a parallel universe, where everything was same except the existence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

Here are 9 things that would be different if these two players didn’t exist.

#1 Fernando Torres would have won a Ballon d’Or:
Back in 2008, when Cristiano Ronaldo won his first Ballon d’Or, he beat Lionel Messi for the prestigious honour. But what very few people remember is that Fernando Torres was the second runner up for the award. The Spaniard had a terrific first season at
Liverpool, during which he scored 33 goals in just 46 appearances.

If Torres had won the Ballon d’Or in 2008 and then showed his slump in form like the one he had at Chelsea, then that would have been an even bigger story for football fans to talk about.

From Ballon d’Or winner to open goal miss would make a good title for that story.

#2 Chelsea could have had two Champions League titles:
Chelsea played their first Champions League final in 2008 when they took on rivals Manchester United in Moscow. The Blues were on song in Russia and were
denied several times due the brilliance of Edwin van der Sar.

Manchester United took the lead in the game through a typical Ronaldo header. The Portuguese rose high in the air and connected with the ball to power it past Petr Cech in goal. Chelsea leveled through Lampard, but Ronaldo’s early goal meant that the score remained the same till the end of extra time and United won the game on penalties.

What if Ronaldo were not there to score that stunning goal? Maybe Chelsea would have had two Champions League titles by now.

#3 Gerd Muller’s record would have been intact:
In 1972, Gerd Muller set the record of the most goals in a calendar year by scoring 85 goals for his club Bayern Munich and national team, Germany, combined.

Muller broke the record of Ferenc Deak, who scored 66 goals in 1946 and he bettered the record by a good 29 goals.

Up until 2011, the closest anyone has come to the record was Cristiano Ronaldo with 60 goals. But in 2012, Lionel Messi Broke the record by scoring 91 goals in a calendar year. Ronaldo has scored 66, 69 and 61 goals in the last three years, but no other player other than these two have come close to Muller’s 85.

So it is safe to assume that the record would
have been intact for many more years if
these two were not in existence.

#4 Zlatan Ibrahimovic may have become a star at Barcelona:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic never fails! The Swede was a success everywhere he went and won several titles during his well travelled career.

In 2009, Ibrahimovic moved to defending European Champions, Barcelona, from Internazionale for a player plus cash transfer. The eventual transfer fee was
around the region of €69.5 million (after accounting for Eto’o’s transfer fee).

Barcelona was managed by Pep Guardiola at that time and the Spaniard had eliminated the traditional forward from his side and introduced Lionel Messi in the false nine role. This was a problem for players like
Ibrahimovic and Henry, as both were out
and out strikers.

Despite his poor relationship with Guardiola, Ibrahimovic scored 16 goals in 29 games for the Catalan club. He did not want to play second fiddle to Lionel Messi and in the end went out on loan to AC Milan after just one season at Barcelona. If it wasn’t for Messi, then maybe we would have seen Ibrahimovic achieve much more at Barcelona and maybe even win the elusive Champions League.

#5 Wayne Rooney may have had the iconic status that belongs to Ronaldo:
Wayne Rooney joined Manchester United a year after Cristiano Ronaldo, but the current England and Manchester United captain didn’t get the same sort of recognition the Portuguese star received during their time together in England.

Ronaldo was the clear fan favourite at Old Trafford due to his flamboyant style on and off the pitch. Rooney on the other hand was just like any other regular shabby scouser. Although Rooney always had a good name amongst the Man Utd faithful, it was only after the departure of players like Ronaldo, that he started to get the recognition and accolades that Ronaldo was bestowed with long back.

Rooney’s enthusiasm and high energetic game has come to the fore in the recent years and he is now one of the most loved players of the United family. If it wasn’t for Ronaldo, Rooney would have easily become
a cult hero long back.

#6 Ballon d’or would no longer be a competition between two players:
In the last six years, the Ballon d’or award has been shared between these two players. Ronaldo won the award in 2008 and then Lionel Messi won the award four consecutive times till 2012. Ronaldo won the award again in 2013 and it is very likely that the
Portuguese will win the award again in 2014.

Nowadays the Ballon d’Or is a competition between these two and the award is usually awarded to the player with more number of goals in the calendar year.
Players like Iniesta, Sneijder and Ribery who led their club or country through impressive campaigns have been overlooked for the award in favour of Messi and Ronaldo. And the trend is sure to continue unless these two ceased to exist.

#7 Gareth Bale vs Neymar would've been the Ronaldo vs Messi debate:
During the summer of 2013, when Barcelona purchased Neymar and Real Madrid countered that with the purchase of Gareth Bale, it was said that Neymar versus Bale would be the new individual battle to watch out for.

But more often than not, the individual comparison between the two have become less significant due to the presence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Neymar and Bale are considerably younger than the respective stars of their team and if there were no Ronaldo or Messi, then the individual battle we would be talking about will be ‘Bale vs Neymar’ Maybe in a few years if and when age starts to catch up to the two stars, then we might still see the individual battle between Neymar and Bale take center stage.

#8 Football wouldn’t be the same:
At the end of the day, when it’s all said and done, football wouldn’t be the same without these two. Messi and Ronaldo have given us plenty of brilliant moments to relish for a lifetime. Putting all rivalry aside, I am sure that deep down even the fans of these players will agree that the other is an equally good player.

We are a very lucky generation. We are very lucky because we have been given the privilege of watching two legendary players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo play during our lifetime.

#9 Manchester United will have equalled 5 Champions league with Liverpool:
After 2007/2008 season, Manchester United had already won 3 champions league tittles. But in both 2008/2009 and 2010/2011 season when they qualified for the champions league finals again, they lost to the same team that has Lionel Messi. Who knows what would have happened, had it been that Messi wasn't part of the Barcelona team that classically defeated Manchester United in those two finals? Well, that's how influenced Messi was in the Barcelona Team that dominated Europe for the last 6 seasons.