Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo: Who Will Be La Liga's Top Scorer?

After Real Madrid's recent defeat at Osasuna, it seems clear to (almost) everyone that Barcelona will win La Liga once again, for the third consecutive time. Only a very unexpected and disastrous slump could make Barcelona lose the league.

Being the top scorer is not nearly as important as winning the league, but it's still a noteworthy achievement for any player. This season, there seem to be two clear favorites: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who currently leads the scoring charts with 22 goals (in 21 matches) and Barcelona's Lionel Messi. The best player in the world has already collected 21 goals in 18 league matches. David Villa is a distant third with 14 goals.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been having a very good season at Real Madrid and he has scored nearly 50% of their goals. He is the reason why Real Madrid are ahead of Villareal in second place. As it stands, the Portuguese star seems to be Real Madrid's only big scoring threat, so it's safe to assume that he'll keep scoring.

Lionel Messi was the best scorer last season with 34 goals, but it's going to be very difficult for him to do it again. He might be a more dangerous scorer than Cristiano Ronaldo, but he has mostly been playing behind Pedro and Villa, as a false 9. His great vision makes him the current leader of the assist charts, with a huge advantage. But of course this is Lionel Messi we're talking about here, hands down the most talented player of the current generation. It wouldn't be a surprise if the Argentine ended the season at the top of both the scoring and the assist charts. Right now, he's only one goal behind Cristiano Ronaldo and leads the assist charts, with a five-assist advantage over the second, Daniel Alves. It'll be diffcult to top both, but you can expect everything from Messi.

What seems clear is that it will be a two horse race between Messi and Ronaldo to see who the top scorer will be. However, David Villa can't be completely ignored; if he goes on a good scoring run, he might eventually close down on Messi and Ronaldo. But as long as he's on the same team as Messi, the Argentine will be the main scorer, which makes it very difficult for Villa to be the pichichi.

Messi is very likely to win La Liga with Barcelona again and to capture his third straigth Ballon d'Or, but the pichichi award and the Golden Boot are a different story, as the best player in the world faces stiff competition from Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.

But knowing Messi, it's now the pichichi that he's after, it's glory for Barcelona. He has shown time and again that he doesn't care how many goals he scores, as long as Barcelona win. His assist record speaks for itself. This season, Messi has already scored 37 goals and assisted 18 (21 and 14 in La Liga) in only 32 matches!

La Liga is full of brilliant players, like his teammates Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro and Villa, or Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo. These are all among the best players in the world, but Messi is a supernova that outshines them all. He's truly a once in a generation player and a blessing to all Barcelona supporters!

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