La Liga Top 10 Goals Scorers in a Season: Cristiano Ronaldo Still Trying to Break Lionel Messi's 50 Goal Record

By Damon Salvadore First Posted: May 05, 2015 04:30 PM EDT

Cristiano Ronaldo is coming off another incredible performance that put him in the record books.

In Real Madrid's 3-2 victory over Sevilla in Week 35, Ronaldo scored all three goals for his club. With that hat trick, Ronaldo now has the most career hat tricks in La Liga history with 25. Lionel Messi has the second most ever with 24, and he's not done yet either.

Ronaldo now has 42 goals in his 32 La Liga starts this season. Ronald has missed three games this year because of injuries and suspensions. There's only three Spanish Premier League games remaining this season, and breaking Messi's single season mark won't be easy for Ronaldo.

The bottom line is, Ronaldo needs eight goals in the final three games to tie the record, and nine goals to break it.

That's a lot of goals in a short period, but Ronaldo is the best goal scorer on the planet. Unfortunately for Ronaldo, he and Real Madrid will have to play Valencia next week. Valencia has a great defense, and Brazilian goalkeeper Diego Alves has been outstanding this season. Valencia defeated Real Madrid in Week 17, 2-1, but Ronaldo did score a goal in that match via penalty kick. After that is when Ronaldo can really do his damage. Real Madrid's final two games will be played against Espanyol and Getafe.

Ronaldo scored two goals against Getafe in Week 19, and one more against Espanyol in Week 18.

Looking at the most successful single season scorers throughout Spanish soccer, there's no doubt, Messi and Ronaldo stand alone. Messi and Ronaldo have recorded the six highest goal scoring seasons in La Liga history, and they are the only players to ever score 40 goals in season. Messi presently holds the single season record with 50 goals, which he set in the 2011-12 season with Barcelona.

That 2011-12 season was almost identical to the 1998 home run chase in Major League Baseball with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. That year Messi and Ronaldo scored a combined 96 La Liga goals, practically rewriting the record books for the league, and the clubs they play for. To no one's surprise, Messi ranks second in goals scored this season with 40.

To put Messi and Ronaldo's dominance this season into perspective, the third highest goal scorer this season has just 22 goals, Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid.

The only Spanish League player to score 35 goals in a season not in the modern era was Telmo Zarra for Athletic Bilbao in the 1950-51 season.

With just three games remaining, Ronaldo is on the cusp of making history yet again. Scoring eight or nine more goals will be extremely difficult, but Ronaldo can also surpass his 46-goal mark set in 2011-12, and Messi's 46-goal mark for second place as well.