Cristiano Ronaldo, whose move to Real Madrid in a mega deal has now been confirmed, remained locked in a tug war with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi for the top spot in FTBL rating of the world’s top midfielders throughout the season, with the Portuguese holding up to the spot most of time bar a few instances when the Argentine was able to edge past him. Ronaldo is concluding the season with an overall rating of 180 points.

While Ronaldo has lost plenty of rating points lately, including in the Champions League final where he dropped a whopping 40 rating points and lost the top spot to Messi, his appearance for the Portuguese national team has not been very successful either, with the same slump in the rating despite the 2:1 way win against Albania in a World Cup 2010 qualifier.

But Messi, who has been anything but stable this season, subsequently lost the top spot as well, letting Chelsea’s Frank Lampard and Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard overtake him. With 215 points over all, Lampard is the new leader in our rating of the world’s best midfielders.