The beginning of the La Liga season has been tough on Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, and so naturally, his longtime nemesis Lionel Messi has been soaring with Barcelona despite some injury problems.
The Portugal captain, 31, has scored a scarcely believable four goals in eight games comparedto his usual mind-blowing goal tallies at this stage of the season and seldom has he suffered the sort of scrutiny he under in Spain.
But his Ballon d'Or rival and Argentina captain, Messi, has forgotten his summer woes in the US and continued what he does best -scoring goals... and just about everything else he does with a football.
But if you thought Ronaldo was upset with his current goal tally, we wouldn't want to be near him when he finds out that his Barcelona counterpart, two years his junior,is just one goal or assist away from tying the former Manchester United's total goal and assist record.
The three-time Ballon d'Or winner has an astonishing 744 goals and assists in 815 appearances. But Messi, who has trumped Ronaldo to the Ballon d'Or five times, has 743 goals and assists in just 647 career appearances.
The Argentina international will have the opportunity to tie, and knowing Messi, probably go one better than the Portuguese in Barca's clash against lowly Granada this weekend.
Ronaldo, who is not one to shirk a challenge, has his chance to put some daylight between them when he travels to Alaves with his Real teammates.