The golden age of the NBA is seen by most basketball aficionado as the 1980’s in the decade that was dominated by the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. It is arguably one of the most competitive decades of basketball in the history of the NBA. The 80’s is home to players like Ervin “Magic” Johnson, Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone; the list of Hall of Famers goes on and on.

The NBA’s “Golden Age” is always under constant debate about whether Magic or Bird were the most dominant player in the NBA. Today, soccer is having the same debate, occurring across the pond between the world’s two best players: Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid. based of a survey done by the Harris poll, soccer is not every fan’s favorite sport to watch in the United States (Seventh ranked), but when the parallels of two of the NBA’s greatest in Magic Johnson and Larry Bird are so evident in Messi and Ronaldo it is almost to difficult to deny the comparison.

The Players

Who is like “Magic” Johnson of the two? Well that is easy, it is without a doubt Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona. Messi is similar to Johnson in the mere fact that when watching Messi at times is almost seems like wizardry in how easily he maneuvers through players of the opposing team.

Johnson was special at the point guard position during that time period because he was about 6 foot 8 inches, standing tall against other guards who were a mere six feet. Messi on the other hand, stands about 5 feet 6 inches and plays forward. His height is what gives him an advantage over most players because most professional players are not use to playing against such short players and it also helps that Messi is incredibly agile.

Messi, like “Magic”, were seen as such great talents from an early age, as Messi was recruited by FC Barcelona at the age of 11 to join their youth academy from his home country Argentina. Messi debuted at age of 16 and the game of soccer has never been the same since. Although Messi did not win an NBA title or Finals MVP like Johnson did in his first year, the accolades would soon follow years later.

Although the perception of Cristiano Ronaldo is arrogant, flashy, and self-obsessed, he and Larry Bird compare in more ways than not. Larry Bird is one of the best players in his own right, as a result of his excellent play on a consistent basis. Bird was an all-around great player as his ability to score, pass, and rebound is what set him apart from many. Cristiano Ronaldo is also in his own right the more well rounded player of the two. Ronaldo has the ability to shoot from distance, dribble with great technical ability, pass, and a great aerial threat due to his great leaping ability. His great abilities are seen every weekend at the Santiago Bernabeau with his team Real Madrid C.F. .

Larry Legend, was known by many from his days at Indiana State as an extremely hard-worker. Ronaldo, throughout the soccer world is also known to have an extreme work-ethic as many stories from his youth have streamed through the media of how he would continue to work after conditioning with his team at Sporting CP in Portugal.

Both Bird and Johnson won numerous individual and team accolades as both have a combined six NBA MVP awards and eight NBA titles within a span of 10 years. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are similar in that they have a combined 7 FIFA B’allon Dor awards, which is the equivalency to a MVP award, and have a combined 7 La Liga Spanish League titles.

The Teams

The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics are two of the most historic franchises not only in the NBA but in all of sports. Both franchises have a combined 33 NBA Titles. FC Barcelona and CF Real Madrid are in the 21st Century the two most known franchises in all of sports as well. However, Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid are more like the Boston Celtics because of how much early and historical success they have as a record 32 La Liga Titles and a record 10 time European champion, with their most recent being in 2014. FC Barcelona as well has had success wining 23 La Liga titles (in 2015) and 5-time European Champion. Just like the Celtics, Real Madrid had been the more dominant team of the last 20 years but as of late the Lakers and Barcelona have asserted their dominance and have become a forced to be reckoned with.

The Rivalry

The rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics is the most historic in all of basketball because of the constant match ups that these two constantly face in the NBA Finals. Both the Lakers and Celtics have met 12 times in the finals, which is a NBA record. The rivalry between these has its origin from the days of the NBA when Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlin were the faces of the league. However, the rivalry did not start to become competitive until the 80’s when the Lakers finally beat the Celtics in the 84–85 NBA Finals.

FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F. have similar rivalry to that of the Lakers and Celtics, in that both have met many times for Spanish League titles. However, the root of this rivalry is a bit more serious than that of the Lakers and Celtics in that the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid is based off social tensions rather than competitive sports fandom. FC Barcelona is located in an autonomous community part of Spain known as Catalonia. Barcelona is the capital and largest city of the region of Catalonia. The people of Catalonia are of different culture than those of Spain. There have been recent protests of independence from the people of Catalonia from Spain. Real Madrid is known as the “Man” which is the team of people of Castellano Spain, which is the people with Spain origin, while FC Barcelona is the team of Catalan people. This cultural struggle between these two regions within the country of Spain is what makes this rivalry in soccer the most bitter of any in the world due to its social implications.

The Competition

The competition throughout the the golden Age of the NBA was unmatched unlike any other decade in NBA history. Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, the Detroit Pistons, the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers, and of course the Boston Celtics. The European soccer landscape is home to a plethora of great teams with great players.

FC Bayern Munich, are a team that compare almost to a tee with the Pistons because they have won a European title in the last five years and have so much young talent but cannot seem to win consistently due to, who else, other than Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. It seems that most of this young talent will not win until both Messi and Ronaldo retire. Players like Thomas Muller, Arturo Vidal, Mario Gotze, and Manuel Neur are just like Isiah Thomas and company when they struggled to win against the the power franchises of the NBA.

Manchester United, most resemble the Philadelphia 76ers as this great historic franchise has had success but with Real Madrid (Celtics) and the rise of FC Barcelona (Lakers) as well have seen their chances of winning on the European scene to be dismal as the perception of England being the home the best league in the world seems to be on the decline.

Whether you are a NBA fan or a soccer fan there is no doubt that this the golden age of soccer and the resemblance of the NBA golden age is to evident to deny. As a sports fanatics we must enjoy the presence of greatness when we see it, whether you prefer Messi or Ronaldo or vise-versa, it is better to appreciate these two greats as it will be a long time until two great players like these bless the pitch at the same time again.