The Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi impact: How did Real Madrid and Barcelona perform after the two superstars left the club?

It has been four months now since Lionel Messi ended his 21-year-long association with FC Barcelona and moved to France to start a new phase of his career with Ligue 1 giants PSG.

While the club did sign players like Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero in the summer to bolster their attack, it was always going to be difficult for the club to fill the void.

Expectedly, Barcelona have struggled in La Liga this season and are currently in the seventh position on the league table with 23 points from 15 matches, 16 points less than league leaders and rivals Real Madrid.

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But the biggest setback the club has faced so far in the season is their elimination from the group stages of the Champions League and being relegated to the Europa League. For the first time in 21 years, Barcelona have bowed out of the Champions League from the group stages.

The last time the La Liga side played in the Europa League was in the 2003-04 season. Messi made his professional debut for the club during the 2004-05 season and while he was at the club, never did they fail to make it into the Champions League knockout stage.

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Real Madrid too had a mini crisis when Cristiano Ronaldo parted ways with the club in 2018. They finished third in La Liga, were knocked out of the round of 16 stage in the Champions League by Ajax and reached the semifinal of the Copa del Rey where they lost to their eternal rivals, Barcelona.

But compared to Barcelona, their rivals coped with the departure of their superstar in a much better way. Unlike the Catalan club, Madrid reached the knock out stage of the Champions League topping their group and were in a better position on the league table after 15 matches.

Here is a comparison of how Real Madrid and Barcelona performed in the first season after Ronaldo and Messi's departure respectively.

Real Madrid (2018/19)

FC Barcelona (2021/22)