With Messi being a freak of nature, any player including Pele , Maradona and now CR7 would be under his shadow. But let’s assume,Messi somehow does not exist, how would CR7 be viewed? Would he be the undisputed greatest like Micheal Jordon for football, considering all the league titles and champions league he lost to Messi’s Barcelona.
Very naive to think he’d win all those league titles and CLs though, Real and Barca heavily pushed each other in that era. Would Real ever invest all that money if Barca weren’t world beaters? A third team could heavily benefit, I can low key see a dynasty for Simeone’s Atleti for instance