Ronaldo tumbles Messi in 2013 goals

Cristiano never ceases to improve and he’s on course to turn 2013 into his best year in terms of goals. So far he’s scored 50 (44 with Real Madrid and six with Portugal) and is aiming to

be beat his 2012 tally of 63 (58 in white and five with his country). If Ancelotti keeps him in his starting XI and Paulo Bento calls him up for all the games from here to December Ronaldo will have 19 games in which to try and get the 14 goals he needs to beat his own record.

His statistics put him ahead of Messi. He’s scored eight goals more than the Argentine who has 42 (36 with Barcelona and six with his country). Ronaldo is also slightly more effective than Leo: he’s taken 45 games to get 50 goals at an average of 1.11 games /goal, while Messi is on 1.10 (42 goals in 38 games). It’s true the Argentinean has been injured, but even so Cristiano is scoring ever slightly more goals per minutes played.

In fact, Ronaldo is so effective Madrid are dependent on him. Against Levante he once again came to Ancelotti’s rescue, scoring the winning goal which keeps Madrid five points behind Atlético and Barcelona and not completely unstuck in the title race after only eight games. Yet it’s not the only time his contribution has been fundamental. With seven goals so far in the tournament he’s been directly responsible for six of the 19 points Madrid have. (Messi has given Barcelona five of their 24 points).

Saviour

His sparkling form is keeping Madrid alive in the league and covering up their poor form. Ancelotti is yet to sort the puzzle out despite changing the system, but at the end Ronaldo comes to the rescue when Real get bogged down. He didn’t just save the day against Levante, but also against Elche. His two goals in the Martínez Valero were worth three points. And against Villarreal his goal topped Madrid’s comeback, though Villarreal did eventually equalise (2-2).

The only time Cristiano hasn’t saved Ancelotti was against Atleti (0-1). (He also didn’t score against Betis and Granada, but Madrid still won.) Though after the derby he still did his bit for the team, taking the blame in the name of the players: “We’ve had a bad game, starting with me. It’s the players’ fault, not the coach’s”.