Two weeks ago, Real Madrid fell to Barcelona 2-1 in a Clasico that reminded the world of why one club was on the decline and the other was at its peak form.

Incidentally, the match reminded the world of why Lionel Messi was in superior form to rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

What a difference two weeks could make. With the two superstars returning to play for their respective clubs, the results both superstars managed in their games could not be more different from the recent trends.

Ronaldo got the first shot at Easter Sunday glory, and he took it handedly with a historic first for him -- a five-goal effort. He scored a first-half hat trick in just eight minutes before adding tallies four and five in the second half, both off his head.

Many critics of the goalscorer claim that he cannot create such high goal records without the dependence on penalties to "inflate" his numbers. But shockingly, he scored no goals on penalties in this effort whatsoever. He was aided by some poor goaltending and defending from Granada, but great scorers take advantage of mistakes.

Additionally, Ronaldo put up a total of 13 shots and could have easily scored more goals if not for some poor luck. He had two key passes and 69 touches overall on the night.

Messi had been suffering from an injury that was supposedly acquired during the Clasico. He did not play during international week and many pegged him to remain on the bench in Sunday's fixture. But no one can stop Messi when he wants to play, and undoubtedly looking to keep his team well ahead of Madrid in the standings, he played.

But this was not the Messi of 2015.

This was a shadow. He had 68 touches on the night, four shots and one on target. He made 49 passes but not one single key pass (he leads the league in that statistic). He was found deep in the midfield looking to help create buildup play, something that was not good for his own impact on the pitch and ultimately hurt the team as a whole. That Barcelona eventually found a way to win the match is fortunate as Messi was not a major part of the win as he usually it.

Season Stats

There is no doubt that scoring five goals is a huge deal. Heading into the week, Ronaldo trailed his rival by just one goal in the scoring race. Now he has a four-goal cushion. He leads Messi 47-43 in goals in all competitions (though he has scored 36 open-play goals while Messi has 38). He now has five hat tricks in all competitions, pulling in one behind Messi. The Argentinian has 22 assists compared to the Portuguese's 16, so overall Messi has created two more goals than Ronaldo.

In Spain, Ronaldo has retaken the lead for the Pichichi trophy with 36 tallies to Messi's 32; Messi has 15 assists while Ronaldo has 11 in Spain. Nine of Ronaldo's 36 tallies have come from penalties while five of Messi's Spanish League goals have come from the penalty spot.

Calendar Year Stats

Messi still holds a solid lead overall in 2015 with 20 goals and 13 assists in 20 matches. Ronaldo has 15 goals and just four assists in 17 games this year.

Streaking

Messi has gone three straight games without a goal; this is just the second time that he has endured such a streak in 2014-15. The first time he failed to score in three straight games was from August 31 through Sept. 17. He has three assists in the span; he two assists in the current "slump."

In his last 10 games, Messi has nine goals and five assists.

Ronaldo has scored in three of the last four and has scored in six of his last eight games overall. In his last 10 matches, Ronaldo has 11 goals and three assists.

Winner

This one should not surprise anyone. Both players won their respective games, but one player scored five goals in one game, including an eight-minute hat trick. The other guy had one shot on target and contributed little to his team's 1-0 victory.

Ronaldo now trails Messi by one in a 13-12 score line.

For the last installment of this weekly series, click here.