Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had another solid week for their respective clubs. Messi was looking to continue his torrid start to the season while Ronaldo was out to prove that he could have a big impact against top competition after being called out in the media.

Ronaldo got off to a tremendous start for Real Madrid against Athletico Bilbao. Just three minutes in he took a pass on the left wing, cut in and rifled a beautiful shot into the far side corner. It was the beginning of a successful evening for the former Ballon d'Or winner as he would then manage an assist on Madrid's third goal, cutting into the middle and chipping a pass to Toni Kroos. He finished the scoring for his club with beautiful control of a cross from the right side. He then cut past one defender and fired in his second goal of the game. He had seven shots at goal, five on target and had a whopping three dribbles in the game, a number that is rarely seen from the superstar. He also won five aerials, emphasizing his ability to dominate teams in the air.

Messi missed his first game of the week before coming back and putting on a show in his second. Aside from four dribbles, he scored on a free kick. However his big moment came in the waning seconds of the game when he got a penalty kick opportunity. Instead of scoring goal 300 of his La Liga career, he opted to fake the shot and simply pass it off for Luis Suarez to complete a hat trick. He also added an assist on Suarez's first goal.

Season Stats

With the two goals, Ronaldo is now at 32 goals in 30 games on the year in all competitions. He now has 21 goals in 24 games in La Liga and is on pace for 33 goals this season; he has eight assists and is on pace for 12 helpers in Spain. More importantly, Ronaldo now has two goals against one of the top six teams in Spain.

Messi has 25 goals and 12 assists in 29 matches. He has 13 goals in La Liga and is on pace for 23 this season. He also has seven assists in the domestic competition.

Calendar Year Stats

Ronaldo now has seven goals and four assists in seven games this year, keeping him at his usual goal-per-game ratio.

Messi has 12 goals and seven assists in 11 matches in 2016.

Winner

It is a tough one. Both players scored an opening goal and both players contributed to three goals overall. Moreover, both players helped contribute on the respective game winners. If we go by recent standards, in which a player's contributions are taken away altogether to determine how the team would otherwise fare, then Ronaldo would have more impact than Messi. Without his two goals, Madrid ties and without his assist the team loses. Meanwhile without Messi's goal and two assists Barcelona still wins 3-1. So Ronaldo takes the cake this week 10-7.

Up next:

Real Madrid gets two matches this week with a tilt in Rome coming first in the Champions League. Ronaldo has 11 goals and three assists in the UCL this season, an average of 1.833 goals per game. If he continues his torrid pace in this competition, he could have another two goals before the weekend. He did however fail to score against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League group this season, but Ronado is arguably the best player in this competition. Real Madrid then has a match against Atletico Madrid in its home stadium; Ronaldo failed to score in the opener with Atletico earlier this season. Barcelona meanwhile has two games, including a makeup match in La Liga against Sporting Gijon before taking on Las Palmas over the weekend. The previous match with Las Palmas was the one in which Messi was injured and he will surely be out for some revenge.

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