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On the race for the Pichichi -- Week 15

Leo Messi had been stuck one goal behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the Pichichi race since Week 11.  Since then every brace or hattrick has been matched by his Madrid counterpart.  This week, Real Madrid kicked off first.  With Ronaldo scoring off a beautiful freekick, Messi had to get at least one to keep pace.  Messi opened the first half with a beautiful 1-2-1-2-1-2 (that's 3 give and go's in a row) with Dani Alves before slotting home.  He then went on to score one of the more ridiculous goals of the season to equal Ronaldo for the Pichichi.  Why ridiculous?  He dribbled past 5 defenders in the box by doing nothing more than dribbling in a straight line.  No stepovers, no feints, no swivelling of the hips like a Turkish stripper, just pure dribbling. 

On the race for the Pichichi -- Week 14

When I did the first post on the Pichichi race, I wasn't intending for it to be a recurring theme.  However, I think this year we are witnessing something special that warrants extra attention.  During this week's Barca match, the commentators were saying that Messi averages a goal a game under Pep Guardiola.  Scoring a goal a game is impressive under short spells during the season, but to do it consistently for two and a half seasons is a whole other level. 

Messi and Ronaldo are both averaging more than a goal a game this season.  After their matching hattricks before El Clasico, they followed it up with matching braces after El Clasico.  Their goal scoring pace may seem unsustainable, but Messi had a higher goals per game average for the second part of the 2009-10 season than he has for the start of the 2010-11 season.  If he could match that pace, he'd be on target to score 42 goals this season and still possibly lose the Pichichi to Ronaldo.