Messi completely outclassed CR during their prime.
When they faced each other in CL knockouts,Messi has a 2-1 record.
During CR’s 9 year tenure at Madrid,he won La Liga only two times,to Leo’s six.
Leo also has a better head-to-head Classico record,more goals and more assists.
Leo has more Ballon D’Ors, more Golden Boots, more Pichichis.
He also has been a vastly superior creator and dribbler.
After the Copa America victory,the only argument of CR’s fanboys is CL success, which admittedly is a fairly strong argument,as CR has 5 titles as the team’s best player, while Leo only has 3. Surely,CR always had stacked teams, but so did Messi. He also scored a ton of knockout goals, while Leo has been kinda underwhelming at times (eg 15/16 to 17/18).
All in all though, the rivalry was as intense as it can get, especially between 2011 and ~2017.
But it has a clear winner