Something unexpected happened this weekend. For the first time in history, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score goals in two consecutive league games.

That means that for the first time in ages, Messi and Ronaldo are two games into La Liga and have nothing to show for them. No goals and no assists. Of course Messi gets the glamour of the three goals he scored in three competitions, but neither player has managed a tally in Spain and will now have to wait for another two weeks before getting a chance to crack one through. Messi gets Athletic Madrid next time at bat while Ronaldo has an easier task with Espanyol.

So what happened to the two superstars in their second matches of the competition?

Messi played Malaga and helped his team to a solid 1-0 win. He had a game-high 114 touches, making him the most influential player on the pitch. He connected on 80 percent of his passes (he had 86 passes), had a whopping eight dribbles, two key passes and five shots on target. He also chipped in defensively with two tackles.

Messi could have scored and had plenty of chances, but he was constantly foiled in the attempt by goalie Carlos Kameni who had a fantastic game for his club. Another goalie likely gives Messi two or three goals.

Ronaldo had five shots on goal, one key pass and 39 total passes. He also finished with 57 touches, almost half of what Messi had. Two of Ronaldo's shots came from free kick positions, both of which were on target; Ronaldo has often been woeful from free kicks but has seemingly been able to hit the mark with better precision this season. He also had a couple of great scoring chances but was shut down by an outstanding Adan. Again the rules apply as they did with Messi; on another night Ronaldo scores two or three of those chances. He also had a nice cross at the start of the game that unfortunately came to nothing and finished the night with two dribbles, one of which created a scoring chance for him.

That said, Ronaldo seems a bit out of place on Real Madrid's current formation. He is getting his chances, but he can go missing for long periods of time and let's be honest - when Ronaldo is not scoring or taking chances at goal, it is hard to say that he is having much of an impact on the game.

Season Stats

Messi leads the score 3-0 in terms of goals in all competitions, while the assists count remains even at 0-0. Messi has played five games to Ronaldo's two in 2015-16.

Calendar Year Stats

Messi has 39 goals and 22 assists in 46 games while Ronaldo has 32 goals in 32 games but has 10 assists.

Winners: Neither is really worthy of taking the cake on this weekend but there is a clear cut reality that both teams can take to heart. Messi makes a difference even when he is scoring; Ronaldo has not proven capable of doing the same.

Messi now leads 2-0.

This will be a weekly column. If either player is absent from play during a given week then then column will focus on a different topic regarding the two superstars without drawing direct comparisons to specific games of that week.