The diminutive Argentine's hat-trick was enough to send Lionel Messi and his Barca side to the top of both the goalscoring charts and the La Liga table this weekend, but only for a matter of hours before rivals Real, with another hat-trick from their own superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, returned to the peak of both of those tables.

The Messi inspired 8-0 win over Almeria saw him hit 13 La Liga goals this season, while Ronaldo moved himself back up to 14 with his match-winning hat-trick over Athletic Bilbao in their 5-1 romp, which yours truly here got to witness on my Castrol trip to meet and watch Ronaldo.

2008 FIFA World Player of the Year Ronaldo and 2009 recipient Messi are locked in a battle for supremacy over the number one spot for the world's finest footballer and it is a duel which proves every bit as fascinating as their own team's battle for the top spot in Spain and indeed Europe.

I've often pondered what they really think of each other? How conscience are they of each other's achievements? Does Ronaldo watch Barca games hoping Messi has a stinker and vice-versa? The answer, despite one that you're unlikely to get from either of the media-trained footballers directly, is probably yes.

Competitive on both a personal and team level, it is only human to stack your achievements up in context next to your nearest rival and there's nothing wrong with that.

What makes the battle so compelling is while they have such strong similarities which make them compatible - age, both La Liga players, both "modern forwards" who do so much more than just score goals. They are also startling different - one is South American, the other European; one seems modest, almost embarrassed by their talent, the other one is Ronaldo!

Now, the 60s and 70s belonged to Pele, Maradona bossed the 80s, while Zidane was the stand out of the 90s, but the player of the decade gets a bit more cloudy in recent times. Ronaldinho dominated the star status stakes in the early 00s, but he suffered the type of burnout that let both Ronaldo and Messi emerge as the stars of the late 00s. But which player will be linked to the coming decade? Who will rule the 10s? While both in their early-mid 20s, with arguably their peak still to come (wow, that's scary isn't it?), it must surely be Messi or Ronaldo.

While the thought must cross each other's mind that without their La Liga rival they would enjoy sole supremacy, it is their battle which has driven each other's progress. They need each other, as it's one thing to dominate, but another to do so in a golden era of talent for your sport.

 

Allow me to divert from football for a moment so I can best illustrate this point. Muhammad Ali is considered the greatest boxer of all time. Not just his record, but for winning and retaining the title in the most affluent period for heavyweight boxers ever. Ali, George Foreman and Joe Frazier would have dominated their sport if their times came separately, but the fact three of the best-ever clashed gave them context for their talent. Current world champion Klitschko will never been spoken about in the same breath despite his current dominance, due to a barren spell of fighting talent in the division.

 

Back on topic and the idea that Ronaldo will always have that Messi yardstick to push him further might be the biggest blessing in disguise he could image. While both are seen as "flat track bullies" at times in La Liga (often shown too much respect by lesser teams in La Liga, where struggling EPL sides would look to clean them out in the opening stages) it is likely to be the battles between each other that will define.

Which brings me neatly onto the upcoming El Clasico (taking place Tuesday morning Australia time), which with both teams firing, Messi and Ronaldo on top form and just a single point separating them, could prove to be one of the defining moment of their battle for the top. It is their Rumble in the Jungle, but more the Clash at the Nou Camp. No matter what your commitments are on Tuesday morning, make sure you find a way to watch Barca and Real face-off. It could produce the moment that not only defines European football's biggest rivalry, but gets points on the board in the clash for this generation's best footballer.

A closing thought on the Messi v Ronaldo debate was that while I can't deny that Messi is probably deserving of his number one spot at the moment, he is not the player I'd pick from a purely personal point of view. My rationale for this? (And this has nothing to do with this Castrol trip!) I pondered today that if I could pick either Messi or Ronaldo to join my lowly EPL side West Ham, I'd go for the latter. Because while Messi is brilliant in the context of Barca, Ronaldo has the ability to be a one-man team. He likes it that way in fact. Messi would be looking for intricate passes (something he won't be able to string together with teammate Carlton Cole!), Ronaldo would pick up the ball and do it all himself. Considering the standard of West Ham's players against Liverpool this weekend, I'd rather their contact with the ball was minimised, thanks. Anyway, a rhetorical question, but with an answer which says a lot about the Messi-Ronaldo battle...

Check out the January issue of FourFourTwo magazine for the full coverage of our trip with Castrol to meet Ronaldo in Madrid.