Record-breaking Lionel Messi proves he's still top dog in rivalry with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi has had an unbelievable week, no, an unbelievable four days. He's taken over Telmo Zarra as the top scorer in the history of la Liga (253) and over Raul as the top scorer in Champions League history (74).
They are two fairly sufficient arguments for the organisers of the Ballon d'Or to extend the voting for the prestigious award, as they did last season for Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, with more time or without it, Messi has proved that, despite not having his best year, he continues to be better than Ronaldo, who is expected to lift the prize again this year.
Titles aside, Messi has contributed more on the pitch for their respective teams than Ronaldo.
While some people say it has been Messi's worst year, he has scored 52 goals in the calendar year; Ronaldo has scored 54. However, if we included assists, Messi is in better shape than Ronaldo - the Argentine has provided 22, while the Portuguese has 17.
Looking at the Champions League, prior to Madrid's match in Basel tonight, Messi's goals have come at a much better tatio than Ronaldo's.
At Real Madrid TV they base goal scoring records on averages, suggesting Los Blancos' No. 7 is the best goal scorer in the history of la Liga. In the Champions League, they can't make that case. Messi's 74 goals have arrived in 91 matches (0.8 per game) and Ronaldo's 70 have come in 107 (0.6).
