Ronaldo is more decisive for the outcome of a game in the biggest CL knockout games in the past 3 seasons than Messi, whether Messi is defender, GK, playmaker or whatever you want to label him. He is the sole reason Madrid can make it 3 in a row and 4 in 5 years which we did not even come close to during the Pep years.
I agree with the decisive bit, but having modric, kroos, isco, marcelo, and ramos (big moments in CL 2014 and 16) helps.
I've always said real have a different approach, both in terms of desire and tactics for CL. in the pep era, we tried to win every competition every year (well atleast the european double), and tried to do it playing aesthetic football. but results are what talk in the end and it would be very special for madrid to 3 peat in the modern era.