Last Saturday, Real Madrid sat proudly on top of La Liga with a healthy four-point lead over Barcelona as Cristiano Ronaldo led the race for the Pichichi prize. But fast-forward just over a week and it’s the Catalans on top, while Lionel Messi has caught Ronaldo in the scoring charts.
Madrid’s failure to beat Villarreal at home last Sunday saw their advantage cut to two points after Barca had won at Granada. And Luis Enrique’s men made it a week to remember, having already advanced to the final of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, as they thrashed Rayo Vallecano 6-1 at Camp Nou.
Messi, as usual, played a pivotal part. The Argentine took 11 minutes to score a hat-trick – the fastest of his career – to overtake Ronaldo for La Liga trebles (Messi now has a record 24) and move level with the Portuguese on 30 league goals this season.
Back in late November, Messi had netted only seven times in La Liga to Ronaldo’s 20, but in 2015 it is the Barca forward on form as the Madeiran struggles to replicate the performances he produced prior to the winter break.
With 26 rounds of La Liga now played by the two rivals, Barca lead the way with 62 points, one more than Madrid and with the Clasico at Camp Nou still to come later this month. After a slow start to the season and some teething problems initially under Luis Enrique, the Catalans are peaking at just the right time in the race for the title.
Likewise Leo. While Ronaldo scored for fun in the early months of the campaign, Messi took time to find his best form as Luis Enrique experimented, but the Argentine is now on fire and has netted 18 goals to Ronaldo’s seven in all competitions in 2015. And in La Liga, Messi now has 15 this year to Ronaldo’s five.
That difference between the world’s top two players in 2015 is reflected in the form of their respective teams and it is Barca firing on all cylinders right now. Madrid, meanwhile, are looking to find solutions to the flailing form that has seen them fail to score from open play in their last two Liga games and surrender a four-point lead.
What has been a nightmare week for Carlo Ancelotti’s men, who slipped to a 1-0 defeat in Bilbao on Saturday, is a dream scenario for Barcelona. And with Messi peaking just as the season approaches its business end, everything is rosy right now for Luis Enrique and a buoyant Barcelona.
Goal