helper vs controller performace in laravel 5.*

Lets assume I have a helper called engine.

if( ! function_exists('engine') )
{
    function engine($user_id_1, $user_id_2, $league, $log = true)
    {
        /*
         * variables
         */
        $questionsLevel = 1;

        $user1 = \App\User::where('id', $user_id_1)->first();
        $user2 = \App\User::where('id', $user_id_2)->first();

        $league = \App\Models\League::where('id', $league)->first();

        $users = $league->all_users;

        /*
         * check if users joined to league correctly
         */
         $user1_ok = $user2_ok = false;
         foreach($users as $user)
         {

             if( $user->id == $user_id_1 )
             {
                 $user1_ok = true;
             }
             if( $user->id == $user_id_2)
             {
                 $user2_ok = true;
             }

             $check_users = [
                 $user1_ok,
                 $user2_ok
             ];
         }

        if( in_array(false, $check_users) )
        {
            return [
                'errcode' => 404,
                'errmessage' => 'one ro both user/s did not joined to league'
            ];
        }

       //DO SOME STUFF

    }//function engine
}

As you know, I can write a controller to do same.

Does anyone know Which is faster based on Laravel architecture? and how can I test performance in both cases?

I'm using laravel 5.7.*

via Chebli Mohamed