With their competition as tight as it has ever been, Cristiano Ronaldo and rival Lionel Messi sought out new ways to top one another and help their respective teams in a parallel title race in the Spanish League.

For the second straight week, Messi got two chances to top his rival, and this time he did so, emphatically. He had a solid Copa del Rey game against Villarreal in which he added an assist to his totals, but it was on the weekend against Rayo Vallecano where Messi really did his damage.

He scored a hat trick, including a goal off a penalty shot, while adding an assist to bring his Spanish League goal totals to 30, tying Ronaldo for the lead. He also now has 41 goals on the years, thus passing Ronaldo by two, and also scored his 24th Spanish League hat trick, also passing Ronaldo in that historical marker. Moreover, with the 6-1 win, Barcelona moved one point ahead of Real Madrid for the Spanish League title and are now firmly in control of their own destiny.

Ronaldo played with Real Madrid a day before Messi and Barcelona destroyed Rayo Vallecano, and the team continued to show signs of decline in a 1-0 defeat. Like Ronaldo, who held a healthy goalscoring lead over his rival in both Spain and all competitions, Real Madrid had a 4-point lead in the title race; both parties have relinquished their respective leads to their rivals.

Season Stats

Messi holds a 41-39 goalscoring lead in all competitions. He and Ronaldo are tied 30-30 in Spain's scoring race, something few would have believed at the start of 2015 when Ronaldo had a firm 28-15 lead as of Jan. 1. And to add to that point, nine of Ronaldo's 30 goals in Spain have come from the penalty spot, while only three of Messi's 30 have been penalties. Moreover, Messi has five hat tricks on the year in Spain (six overall), while Ronaldo has only four in Spain and four on the entire year.

Messi also leads Ronaldo in Champions League scoring with eight goals to Ronaldo's six. They are both tied in other competitions with three goals apiece, but Messi has only played five games in the Copa del Rey, while Ronaldo has scored those three goals across such competitions as the Euro Super Cup, the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup. To put it bluntly, Messi at this point in the year has had a better season than Ronaldo, despite Ronaldo's incredible record-setting pace. That start unfortunately is not only a distant memory but completely useless to Ronaldo's record-breaking aspirations and his team's title chances.

And Ronaldo has no consolation in the assists department as his rival has 19 helpers in 38 games, while he only has 15 in 37.

Calendar Year Stats

Since the start of 2015, Messi has put up a tremendous 18 goals and 10 assists in 16 matches, while Ronaldo has only contributed seven goals and three assists in 12 games. In essence, Messi has been in on about 1.75 goals per game this year, while Ronaldo has contributed to less than a goal per game for Madrid this year.

Messi has accumulated 18 goals in a total of nine weeks, good for approximately two goals per week and almost nine per month. For some perspective, in 2012 when Messi put up a stunning 91 goals in the entire year, he had scored 22 goals through March 7 in just nine matches. He had scored four hat tricks in that span as well. He might be scoring a lower rate at this point in the year (18 goals in 15 matches), but he is only four goals off his 2012 total around the same date in the calendar.

This year, Messi gets a Copa America, which could add another five or six game opportunities for him to add to his goalscoring; in 2012 he had FIFA World Cup qualifiers which gave him more opportunities to add to his haul.

It is interesting how the conversation has now shifted from Ronaldo's previous exploits to whether Messi might be able to come close to his 91 goals. Regardless, if he continues playing this way, he already has that 2016 Ballon d'Or in the bag.

Streaking

Messi is back on his marker with four goals in his last three games. Meanwhile, Ronaldo has three goals in his last four, another emphatic reminder that right now he is second best, and it isn't even a close race.

Winner

If you have been reading this article, or even the headline it is pretty clear who came out on top on this week's edition. And if the trends continue, this might be an embarrassing landslide by the time the season comes to an end. For now Messi has a 12-10 lead on his rival.

For last week's installment, click here.

All stats from WhoScored.com and MessivsRonaldo.net.