Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi looked to continue their rivalry this weekend as each got at least one game to show off their prowess. But as has been the trend, one player continued to decline and the other continued his ascension.

To say that 2015 has not been kind to Cristiano Ronaldo would be wrong. He won the Ballon d'Or, after all, but aside from that, he has not been his best by any means. But Ronaldo, who at one point was averaging close to two goals per game earlier this year, is not even averaging one per game in 2015. Obviously both trends were unsustainable because of what Ronaldo has done historically, but the superstar has looked increasingly frustrated with every passing game in the last few weeks.

One has to wonder if injury has returned or if the pressure he feels from Messi back to his finest is also starting to make him lose his cool, but the facts remain -- Ronaldo has been far from his best in 2015.

And he hit a low point on Saturday in Real Madrid's visit to Cordoba. The superstar could not get anything going and was obviously frustrated by the centerbacks of the opposition, who were grabbing and holding him throughout the game. He lost his cool twice and was sent off for the second instance, a rather disrespectful slap to the face to defender Edimar. To add insult to injury, Ronaldo failed to make any impact on the game and his team wound up finding a way to win after he was sent off.

Messi, on the other hand, has been sublime in 2015 and capped his week with not one but two solid turns. The superstar scored a goal after missing a penalty in the opening leg of the Copa del Rey against Atletico de Madrid to give his team a 1-0 win at home.

But his finer turn was at Elche when he scored two goals and added two assists. One goal came off a penalty, but Messi has been on fire of late with goals in five straight games and in six of his last seven. In fact, Messi's goalscoring has been so strong that he has not gone more than one game without a goal since going scoreless in two straight against Real Madrid and Celta Vigo.

Season & Calendar Year Stats

Messi is already running away with the scoring race for the calendar year with eight goals and five assists in six appearances in 2015; that means that he has been in on over two goals per game thus far.

Ronaldo has four goals and one assist in 2015, a respectable stat but far from the expectations of the superstar and well below his rival.

On the season, Messi is catching up with 31 goals and 14 assists in 28 matches while Ronaldo has 36 goals and 13 assists in 31 matches. And that could turn rather quickly as Ronaldo could miss three Spanish League tilts due to his suspension. Messi can certainly score six goals in those three games that Ronaldo will miss and could be putting his rival behind him despite spotting him a huge lead to start the year. Moreover, Messi has more games to play with a Copa del Rey game coming up this week, so Ronaldo's historical strong start to the season could crumble when compared to the numbers his rival is putting up.

Ronaldo is already trailing Messi in goals scored from open play. Messi has 29 goals from open play this season while Ronaldo has 26.

Streaking?

The Real Madrid-Barcelona match-up in late October seems to have been a major turning point for both superstars. Since that date, Ronaldo has scored just 16 goals for Los Blancos despite providing a solid eight assists in that span. However, Messi, who would not score in that game or the ensuing one, has scored 22 goals in the 15 games following that slump. He has also provided three assists, involving him in 25 goals in that span, one more than Ronaldo, who has also played 16 games since that Clasico.

Winner

There is no question here. Ronaldo embarrassed himself while Messi continued to cover himself in glory with three goals and two assists through two games. All of a sudden, Messi has pulled within one in this weekly tie by the score of 9-8.

For the last round of the Messi vs. Ronaldo weekly feature, click here.