Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo: Who is the greatest this week?

Messi: Something strange happens at Barcelona when the referee points to the spot. The Catalans have been awarded 14 penalties in 28 Liga games this season, and have missed almost half of them. Messi has missed two, but against Eibar he made no mistake in chipping a Panenka down the middle to find the net and score his second of the match. Imagine a magician being flummoxed by a simple coin behind the ear trick, or Dapper Laughs suffering a panic attack on a first date - that’s Messi when it comes to penalty kicks. Although not on Sunday.

Ronaldo: You won’t like him when he’s angry. You might not like him when he’s happy either, but against Celta Vigo Ronaldo was at his angsty best. As if his thunderous first goal of the game hadn’t taken out enough frustration, he celebrated by cupping his ear to the Bernabeu crowd - who have taken to booing the Portuguese recently. His terrific strike moments later was even better, adding two more before the close of the match. Yeah, okay Cris. We get it. You were pumped up for this one.

Messi: Messi isn’t just content with being the best forward in the world, he now wants to be the best midfielder as well. He might already be there. For so long the number on the Argentine’s back has been somewhat disingenuous, playing more like a nine, a seven, an 11, a false nine and everything else in between. Now he has finally become an archetypal number 10, playing the majority of Sunday’s 4-0 win over Eibar in central midfield. I bet Ivan Rakitic, Arda Turan and Sergi Roberto - who are already scrapping for a starting spot - were delighted about that.

Ronaldo: Something has clicked in the mind of Ronaldo. For the best part of two years the Real Madrid had forgotten how to take free-kicks. Opposition defenders would play rock, paper, scissors before a Ronaldo set-piece to decide who would stand in the wall, because invariably the ball would be smashed at full pelt into it by the Portuguese. Against Celta, though, he remembered - like that moment in Buffy the Vampire Slayer when she regains her powers (what do you mean you’re not a fan?). Ronaldo scored one and struck the crossbar with another, peppering Sergio Alvarez’s goal with everything he could.

Messi: 36 games and counting - that’s what Barcelona’s unbeaten run now stands at following victory over Eibar. Luis Enrique’s side weren’t at their Harlem Globetrotters best in Galicia, but they still had too much quality for a club so small there are almost as many players on the pitch as fans in the stands. Neymar was missing through suspension - so there weren’t so many Joga Bonito moments as in recent weeks - but Munir El Haddadi proved an able deputy, as Barca eased to a 4-0 win (which is regarded more like a 2-0 would be for most teams).

Ronaldo: In the space of 31 minutes - between the 50th and 81st minute - Real Madrid managed to hit six past Celta Vigo. By that ratio they could have finished the match as 18-1 winners. Given the level that’s expected at the Santiago Bernabeu, it’s little wonder the home fans didn’t wave their white handkerchiefs in protest that the scoreline didn’t finish anything like that. This was a moody performance by Real Madrid, playing like a sulking teenager sent to their room for swearing at the dinner table.

Messi: There might be an eight-point gap at the top of La Liga, but Atletico Madrid are doing their best to generate a title race. Filipe Luis ramped things up by claiming Messi is “the protected one” in Spain, attempting to wind up the little Argentine. Don’t waste your time, Filipe. Players have been trying to wind up Messi for the best part of a decade. It doesn’t work.

Ronaldo: Ronaldo will always have his numbers. Oh how he loves numbers. The inside of his house must be like Jim Carey’s in the film 23 - figures scrawled all over the walls. So when the Madrid press go after the Portuguese forward’s performances this season he points to the fact that he is closing in on 40 goals. Marca highlights how bullish the player has been about that achievement in recent weeks, almost as if Ronaldo has something to hide. Like poor performances?

Messi: Just when you thought the Messi v Ronaldo debate couldn’t get any more intense, news of a Nigerian man’s murder over the argument emerges. A 34-year-old man was stabbed to death by a 21-year-old in Mumbai following a quarrel over who is the best player in the world.

Ronaldo: Poor Gareth Bale. The Welshman has struggled to learn the native language in Spain and has been portrayed as something of an outsider in the Real Madrid dressing room. That perception won’t have been helped by the picture Ronaldo posted to his Instagram on Monday, showing Bale lurking, lonely, in the background while the rest of his team-mates posed. He’s the Galactico Ashley Cole.

Advantage: Neither

So for the next seven days Ronaldo is the greatest footballer on earth, wrestling back his title from Messi.