The Messi and Ronaldo show

Posted Wednesday, May 18, 2011 by ESPN

The Messi and Ronaldo show
One craves the spotlight, the other is all about the football. But Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have both delivered virtuoso performances in La Liga this season.

For those addicted to the wonderful drama of the boot-to-boot combat between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the hearts and minds of the world's football public, these have been a magical few weeks.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man, say the wise ones, and this time magical Messi and clever Cristiano haven't let us down. Of the seven goals scored in the recent quartet of Clasicos, Messi bagged three and Ronaldo two.

The Argentinian effectively put his club in the Champions League final with that gorgeous brace of goals at the Bernabeu, while the Portuguese won Madrid its first Copa del Rey in 18 years thanks to his wonderful header.

The Battle for the Pichichi title -- the prize awarded to La Liga's top scorer -- has all but been won, as Ronaldo heads into the final weekend of league play with 38 goals to Messi's 31. But if you weigh a league medal and a place in the Champions League final, both of which Messi has earned, against a Spanish Cup and a goalscoring garland, it should be the little flea, rather than Ronaldo, who is feeling pretty chipper with a spring in his step.

Instead, this past weekend, Ronaldo's face was all smiles as he smashed in his ninth goal in three games and, depending on who you believe, he either equaled or broke the all-time Spanish league scoring record for a season (more on that later).

It was in stark contrast to what I witnessed at Camp Nou on Sunday, when a mostly second-string Barcelona side played Deportivo La Coruna. After the game, when the team was being presented with the league trophy in a colorful celebration, I was banging away at my computer. My friend and colleague from BackPage Press, Martin Greig, tapped me on the shoulder. "What's up with Messi?" he asked.

There he was among the Barca squad, the only one who kept on his tracksuit top and trousers rather than joining his teammates in their playing kits to throw red peppers all over the place. He drifted away from Pep Guardiola's lads, who were singing, dancing and generally shaking off the tension of a long, hard football campaign.

If you had taken a snapshot, it looked like each and every player was holding a winning lotter ticket but Messi had lost his and was shuffling about looking for it -- downcast and preoccupied.

Now I am not trying to over-dramatize this. Messi isn't ticked off with his team, his manager or life in general. It is just that he literally cannot stand missing out on a game, even one that has no bearing. So on Sunday, with the league won the week before, Messi was left on the bench, having to watch an understrength Barca trundle along to a goalless draw with Deportivo.

« Previous12 3 Next »