Leo & CR7 close in on 40-league-goal mark

The two megastars remain neck and neck in the goalscoring charts, but who was better overall throughout March? Goal.com takes a look at their performances.March was a month to remember for both Messi and Ronaldo as they delivered landmark performances in their fight for the Pichichi, the European Golden Shoe and the Ballon d'Or. For the Argentine, the reward was even greater as he managed to become the most prolific player in the history of Barcelona, surpassing Blaugrana legend Cesar Rodriguez during a hat-trick display against Granada.Oddly, Messi started the month in the stands as he was suspended for the match against Sporting. He seemed extremely ill-at-ease watching from above as his team struggled to beat the Asturians thanks to two late goals by Seydou Keita and Xavi. As for Ronaldo, he only scored once in the 5-0 rout over Espanyol, but was ever-present on the pitch.After his stellar five-goal performance against Leverkusen in the Champions League, Leo didn't look back. He scored twice against Racing in Santander to offer Barca a 2-0 victory and one week later added another exceptional strike in a win at Sevilla by the same scoreline.Ronaldo was himself fantastic against Betis, scoring a brace, the second with a beautiful volley to cap a difficult and controversial 3-2 victory. One week later, however, the Portuguese was quite subdued against Malaga, although he did manage to assist Benzema for Madrid's only goal in a 1-1 draw.He was a little better against Villarreal, scoring one fine goal and looking sharp, but the team stumbled to another draw and let Barcelona close the gap at the top of La Liga to six points after a historic night for Messi, in which he scored a hat-trick and broke the Barca top-scorer record during a crazy and magnificent game against Granada, which ended 5-3. The next weekend Messi added another goal to his tally, but the day was won by Cristiano, who returned to scintillating form against a disappointing Real Sociedad side, scoring his 100th league goal in the process.The weekend fixtures brought similar results, with Messi scoring a penalty in a low-key win against Athletic and Ronaldo netting a double and assisting another two in Madrid's outstanding performance at Osasuna. When either of the pair scores just once in a game, it almost seems "disappointing" - and that speaks volumes of the fantastic football both are playing this season.