<text>  What is the last thing you remember about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo? For Messi, it is most likely him tearing Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City apart, making them look like a League One team lost in Europe, nutmegging James Milner to leave him with grass stains on his backside. For Ronaldo, it may be him throwing his arm in the air in disdain, sulking back to the halfway line, protesting even though team-mate Gareth Bale had just put Real Madrid 1-0 up against Levante. Lionel Messi may well be priceless as the Barcelona star continues to find the best form of his career . Messi smiles during Barcelonas win over Manchester City that knocked them out of the Champions League . Cristiano Ronaldo cannot mask his frustration during Real Madrids last match against Levante . It was a tough night for Ronaldo, who will need to improve fast for El Clasico against Messis Barcelona . It is an unforgiving game for the two undisputed best players on the planet. Yet there is currently no debate to be had. Not even close. The headlines this week belong to Messi, even if he didnt break a Champions League record on Wednesday and his free-kicks served only to remind us he is human after all. There was more to his embarrassment of Manchester City than missing out on his ninth goal in the tournament. Much more. If it wasnt his menacing dribbles, it was his six shots against a magnificent Joe Hart. If it wasnt his assist for Ivan Rakitics goal, it was his nutmeg on Milner that reduced Pep Guardiola the architect of the Barcelona way and current Bayern Munich manager to nothing more than another supporter in the stands. The one-twos, the drops of the shoulder, the shimmies. Pep has seen it all before at the Nou Camp, at their Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training ground, at almost every stadium he took Barcelona to yet still it was enough for him to hide his face in disbelief. He wasnt alone. Barcelonas Messi taunts the City defence on the edge of the penalty area during another classy performance . Messi joins in the celebrations after Ivan Rakitics opening goal with Luis Suarez right at the Nou Camp . Messis heat map showed he was very active in the City half. Click here for more from our Match Zone service . Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo hailed the Fantastic Messi after his masterclass against Manchester City that included nutmegs, dribbles and an assist, while he also featured on the front cover of Sport . Should we have expected anything less? Messi has been untouchable this year. So much so its almost unfair, and part of the credit can even go to dare we say it? his nemesis, Ronaldo. It was on January 12 when the Real Madrid man got the better of the Barca boy for the 2014 Ballon dOr award, three weeks after Ronaldo returned to his hometown of Funchal on the island of Madeira to unveil a statue of himself. Before the Ballon dOr ceremony, Ronaldo beat Messi in goals 33 to 25, goals per game 1.18 to 1, minutes per goal 70.94 to 87.24, shots 119 to 96, minutes-per-goal involvement 52.02 to 58.95 and they had 12 assists apiece in all competitions. Messi sat there in Zurich, to the left of Ronaldo, and gritted his teeth afterwards as he congratulated the man that won with 37.66 per cent of the vote for his third Ballon dOr. Deservedly so, too. Yet Ronaldos cry of Si lit something under the four-time winner. Hell hath no fury like a Messi scorned, and he is arguably playing better than when he was crowned the worlds best in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Since the Ballon dOr ceremony, theres been no contest. Messi beats Ronaldo on goals 18 to 8, goals per game 1.2 to 0.73, minutes per goal 75 to 122.75, shots 60 to 52, chances created 39 to 17, assists 9 to 3 and minutes-per-goal involvement 50 to 89.27. Messi has been outstanding ever since Ronaldo won the Ballon dOr on January 12 and the stats prove it . The frustration against Levante was written all over Ronaldos face as he leaned against the frame of the goal . How the top of La Liga stands ahead of El Clasico . Its unrecognisable. A complete reversal. To the overall statistics in all competitions this season, it puts Messi ahead in the three major categories: goals 43 to 41, assists 21 to 15 and, comfortably, chances created 112 to 68. Down to the brass tacks of La Liga, too. There was a moment on November 22, when Ronaldo had 20 goals to Messis seven. Yet today, Ronaldo has 30 to Messis 32. All this has reopened the debate between Messi and his great rival that had a dissimilar experience in Europe last Tuesday. Ronaldo is congratulated by FIFA president Sepp Blatter during the Ballon dOr ceremony in Zurich . Ronaldo cry of Si lit something under four-time winner Messi, who has obliterated his form ever since . Ronaldo must up his game to stay in competition with Messi if he is to retain the Ballon dOr next year . Ronaldo, for a man that had broken the Champions League goalscoring record, left the pitch shaking his head following a 4-3 defeat by Schalke at the Bernabeu. Those all-too-familiar white handkerchiefs were waved in his teams direction, and the Spanish whistles were piercing. I wont talk again until the end of the season, Ronaldo announced afterwards, as frustrated as any, while a poll by Spanish newspaper AS found 32.2 per cent voted for Cristiano to be dropped. All is not right in Ronaldos world, and he has been putting in additional work this week at the Ciudad Real Madrid training ground in Valdebebas. Messi, meanwhile, warmed up for El Clasico by putting on a masterclass for Manchester City at the Nou Camp. Ronaldo has been putting in extra work this week at the Ciudad Real Madrid training ground in Valdebebas . Ronaldo has been at the training ground preparing hard for the trip to Barcelonas Nou Camp on Sunday . Guardiola wasnt the only one mesmerised. Just look at the feedback: . The kid from next door in Barcelona, with the ability to glue the ball to his foot, has been swaying a few votes in his favour, it seems. Yet on Sunday at 8pm, another chapter of Messi vs Ronaldo a rivalry that demands its own Wikipedia page will be written in front of an estimated global television audience of 500 million. Messi received plenty of feedback from the world of football and beyond for his performance against City . Messi delivered a man of the match performance as he ran the City defence ragged at the Nou Camp . The table below shows how the attacking trios of Barcelona Messi, Neymar and Suarez and Real Madrid Ronaldo, Benzema and Bale compare in all competitions. Green indicates the player that comes out on top in that category, such as Messi for goals, while those in red shows them as the worst of the six, such as Neymar for assists. 