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 thirteenth week of La Liga.
Messi: Messi got the week started with a two goal effort against Spartak Moscow to vault Barcelona into the second round of the Champions League. More importantly however, he added goals number 79 and 80 to bring himself within five goals of Gerd Muller's 85 goal record. His first goal was not the typical Messi work of art but simply a tap in off a rebound. His second goal saw him grab a Pedro pass, dribble around the keeper and slot the ball home to secure a 3-0 win for Barca. He followed that up with a stunning effort against Levante on Sunday when he added goal number 81 and 82 and put himself within range of breaking the record. Both goals were created by Andres Iniesta, but Messi borught his trademark finish to each strike.
Ronaldo: It was another tough week for Cristiano who scored no goals and saw Real Madrid lose and draw one match. Their 1-1 draw to Manchester City was inconsequential as Madrid qualified for the second round of the UCL. However, his continued disappearance act in the following match against Real Betis was a damaging to his club. The 1-0 loss essentially doomed Madrid's chances of repeating as Spanish League Chances as they opened the gap with Barcelona to 11 points. Ronaldo has now just scored one goal in his last six matches for Madrid and has gone three straight without a tally.
Messi: 19 goals, 5 assists (5 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: Two wins, four goals. No wins, no goals. Who would you pick? Messi had one of his best weeks of the 2012-13 season while Ronaldo continues to fade.
8-5 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
Week 12