Who is better? Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? The two greatest living soccer players not only compete in the same league but for rival squads. Messi has had the edge over Ronaldo the last few years as Barcelona has been the supreme squad in European soccer, but Ronaldo may be having the best year of his career. Every week Latinos post compares both players and tries to determine who had the better performance during the week.
Let us look at what the two superstars accomplished during the twelfth week of La Liga.
Messi: Argentina's prodigy broke Pele's record of 75 goals in one season last week and he continued to add to his legacy with an additional two goals in Saturday's match against Real Zaragoza. With 78 goals in one year, Messi's tally is now just seven behind Gerd Muller's record of 85 in one year. Messi scored both goals off of his left foot and found the left post to give Barca a 3-1 win over Zaragoza. He was a nuisance the entire match and helped create a plethora of chances for Blaugrana.
Ronaldo: Rumors cropped up again about Cristiano's sadness which marred his week prior to Saturday's match against Athletic Bilbao. Madrid won the match 5-1 and Ronaldo had seven shots on goal, but did not record a goal or an assist. Ronaldo now only has one goal in the last four matches for Real Madrid and is slowly falling behind Messi's torrid scoring pace.
Stats Through Week 12
Messi: 17 goals, 5 assists (3 goals, 2 assists in UCL, 2 goals in Spanish Super Cup)
Ronaldo: 12 goals, 1 assist (5 goals in UCL, 2 goals in Spanish Super Cup)
Edge: Can Messi be stopped? Ronaldo has looked sloppy of late and unable to finish his chances while his rival starts to runaway with the Spanish League scoring title and the Ballon D'Or.
7-5 Messi.
During week 5, both players earned a point for equally strong weeks. During week 10, neither earned a point for forgettable weeks.
Read about past Weeks
Week 1,2,3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week11