Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi looked to get their respective 2015 campaigns off to a great start. Ronaldo finished the year with a bit of a slump as he struggled to score in the FIFA Club World Cup. Meanwhile, his great rival had been finding new ways to consistently score for Barcelona.

Heading into this week, Ronaldo had an 8-5 lead on his rival. Would he add to the lead? Or see Messi creep ever closer?

Turns out Ronaldo had the first chance to make a statement in 2015. And he did just that by scoring a penalty against Valencia before the quarter hour mark of the match. Real Madrid looked a bit overwhelmed in the early going, but the likely Ballon d'Or winner made sure to calm the team with an early lead. It looked like Madrid would walk away with its 23rd straight win of the season.

But it was not meant to be. The team would implode in the second half and lose 2-1. Ronaldo would miss a clean shot on goal. He had six shots, four on target, completed a little of 70 percent of his passes and had 41 touches the entire game.

Not the game worthy of a superstar, but at least he managed his first goal of 2015 while scoring his 33rd of the regular season. Unfortunately for him, the rest of his team was disastrous, as well, and he was unable to lift it to another victory.

With Ronaldo seemingly down and out for the week, it was Messi's time to shine and steal the spotlight. It is clear Ronaldo outshone him in 2014, after doing the same in 2013, and so with a clean slate, it was a prime chance for Messi to come out scoring at a premium.

But he would fail to do that. In what was easily the worst performance of his season, Messi was invisible at Anoeta against Real Sociedad. Here are some stats. Messi had 44 touches. He had no shots on target and just two at goal the entire game. He only completed 71 percent of his passes. This is coming from a guy who has averaged 4.7 shots on goal per game, an 85.4 passing completion rate and over 61 passes per game. To call this a disappearing act is a likely understatement.

And unfortunately for Barcelona, no Messi is essentially a tally in the loss column. The entire team imploded as its top player failed to show up in a key match. Barcelona had just watched Real Madrid blow its game in hand and would have jumped to the top of the table with a win over Real Sociedad. Instead, Barcelona's 1-0 loss ensured its hated rivals remained atop the table with a game in hand. Moreover, Atletico Madrid is now tied with Barcelona, and both teams have played the same number of matches thus far this season.

Winner

Is there any doubt? In all honesty, neither player deserves a win this week for pretty putrid displays all around. Add in the fact that neither superstar lifted his respective side to victory, and there is really no winner this week.

But there must always be a winner, and in this case Ronaldo's stats are marginally better than his rival. Throw in the fact he had a goal, while Messi did not have a single shot on target, and it is rather easy to call this one.

Ronaldo is now up on his rival by the score of 9-5, and both sides have Copa del Rey dates plus league games coming up. Hopefully the two superstars step up their games in the coming week.

For the last round of the Messi vs. Ronaldo weekly feature, click here.