Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi Goal Records Doubted by Paulo Dybala

Juventus forward Paulo Dybala says Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi wouldn’t be so prolific in front of goal if they swapped La Liga for Serie A.

Ronaldo and Messi have scored 56 league goals between them this season, according to BBC Sport, yet Dybala told Tuttosport they’d struggle against the stubborn Italian defences, per Lucas Navarrete of Marca:

“I will say that in Italy there is much better defending and it's a tactical type of football. The little clubs do not play in a wild and careless way as they do in Spain.”

Dybala hasn’t had much trouble against the Serie A rearguards this term, though, as he’s scored 16 goals and created eight more (per WhoScored.com) to boost his lethal reputation.

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Even so, the Argentinian remains 14 goals back of Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain in the Serie A top-scorer charts, and he believes that 30 goals in a single campaign would be more realistic in Italy for Ronaldo and Messi:

“Messi and Ronaldo would not have scored 80-90 goals in Italy, perhaps 30 like Higuain, but not 80."

Dybala’s words will raise a few eyebrows, especially since Ronaldo and Messi hardly find it difficult to score goals against European opposition in the UEFA Champions League.

In fact, the Liga duo have sat on top of the goals and assists chart since the 2012/13 campaign, as Squawka Football revealed:

Fellow Serie A player Antonio Cassano would also be scratching his head at Dybala’s comments, as he recently said Ronaldo and Messi are the best players to ever lace up their boots.

Speaking with television network Italia 1, the Sampdoria midfielder compared the forwards to tennis' Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal as the greatest of all time, via Football Next:

"

Messi is the greatest in the history of football. Many say that Diego Maradona did more to win a World Cup, but those were different times. Leo is the best, and that's why I named my son after him. He and Ronaldo are two great players, but different. If we compare it to tennis, Ronaldo is like Nadal, Messi is Federer.

"

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Dybala watched on from the sidelines as Juventus celebrated a comfortable 2-0 win over Carpi on Sunday, their first match since it was confirmed the Old Lady had claimed the Serie A title for the fifth year in a row the week prior. They could make it a domestic double with victory over AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final on May 21.

The Argentinian will likely lead the Juventus line in that match, and he’ll be hoping the “better defending” from Milan doesn’t see his side fire blanks.