Lionel Messi Cuts Cristiano Ronaldo's League Goals Lead To Five

Lionel Messi's goal at the weekend saw the Argentine reduce Cristiano Ronaldo lead to five in the pair's head-to-head scoring contest.

Messi was the Barcelona match-winner at Malaga, scoring with a close-range volley in a 2-1 win. Overall, the Ballon d'Or holder took six shots, three of which were on target.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, cut a frustrated figure as Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw at Real Betis. The Portuguese took four shots but only managed to hit the target with one.

Here's what our Real Madrid and Barcelona club bloggers had to say about each man's performance.

Ed Alavrez on Ronaldo: 5/10 -- Looked a bit slow, a bit anxious, a bit out of sync with the rest of the team. And all those bits put together depict a player that does not have much to do with the Ronaldo we're used to watching. It's not harsh to say that, had the Portuguese been more inspired, the final result would have been positive for Real Madrid. Probably the 4-4-2 formation did not favour him, but in any case, Zinedine Zidane needs to find a way to exploit Ronaldo's talent better.

Lee Roden on Messi: 7/10 -- Took less than a minute to play a perfect ball through to Luis Suarez in the move for the opener, but then went quiet for most of the first half, only reappearing when he squandered a golden chance just before the break. Much brighter in the second period, putting Barca back in front with an acrobatic volley and pulling off trademark diagonal balls to the opposite flank that helped stretch Malaga.