Cristiano Ronaldo is winning the battle for the Golden Ball

There was a time when Cristiano had to endure the disgrace that he was hidden in the matches against FC Barcelona. In his first six games as Real Madrid he did not score in the Classics. Today the story is quite different after his goal in the Nou Camp, with which Real Madrid is almost the winner of the Spanish league. The Portuguese has three consecutive Classics scoring and Messi has accumulated four without trophy. Cristiano is ahead of Messi in the battle for the FIFA Golden Ball 2012. He claimed his figure in hostile territory on a world stage, with 400 million people watching him on television.

Cristiano Ronaldo: 42 goals in Spanish league

It was not a good night for the winner of the last three Golden Balls (Messi did not shot on target), and Cristiano already said it in his historic celebration: "Today, calm". The Portuguese star has reached 42 goals in La Liga and Messi is 41. Ronaldo entered at the Real Madrid players' club that have scored in three consecutive Classic with Gento, Puskas and Juanito. And he has scored 6 goals in 13 games against Barca. A year ago he scored another memorable goal against FC Barcelona team in the final of the Spanish Cup. The Flea, meanwhile, has 13 goals in 19 Classics.

Now lies ahead for both the semifinal round of the Champions. Their paths can cross again in Munchen in the final. But Barca has problems with the dependence on Messi, which has played two key games without scoring (Chelsea and Real Madrid). Real Madrid wins in 61.1% of the games when Cristiano does not score. With no goal by Messi, Barca wins only 40% of games. On the other hand, the battle for the Golden Boot will be decided in Spain again, as in the past three seasons (Cristiano, Messi and Forlan). This time, the Portuguese will want to beat, in the next four games, the scoring record in Europe, achieved by Georgescu in the 76-77 season with 47 goals.