Each week, ESPN FC projects and reviews the scoring battle between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in La Liga.
Current goals total in La Liga: Ronaldo 21-15 Messi
Lionel Messi made the most of Barcelona's game in hand over Real Madrid by scoring a landmark goal and reducing Cristiano Ronaldo's lead over him in the duo's head-to-head scoring battle.
Messi scored twice in six first-half minutes -- the first was his 300th career goal in league play -- to set Barcelona on the road to a 3-1 victory. In all, he took four shots, three of which were on target.
Ratings and review
Here's what our Barcelona club blogger had to say about Messi's performance.
Lee Roden on Messi: 9/10 -- The No. 10 was active from the kickoff, not allowing Sporting to ease into the game as he reeled off pass after pass into their area. He scored the opener with a great strike from the edge of box, and the second, from inside, followed a neat interchange with Luis Suarez. Drew fouls, spread play, moved brilliantly: another day at the office.
Socially speaking
How did Twitter react to Messi's latest display?
It took just over 3 years for Lionel Messi to go from his 200th career La Liga goal to his 300th: pic.twitter.com/Bk6oYk99iI
- ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 17, 2016
What do you think about Messi and Ronaldo? Let us know using the hashtag #ESPNFCMessiRonaldo. Plus, tell us who will win this season's scoring battle in our poll.
The next league game
Messi returns to action when Barcelona visit Las Palmas on Saturday. The following day, Ronaldo and Real Madrid travel to Malaga.
The Messi vs. Ronaldo goals-projection model
All season long, ESPN FC, in conjunction with ESPN's Stats & Info group, will forecast the scoring battle in La Liga between Messi and Ronaldo using a specially designed projection model.
Here's an explanation from the model's creator, analytics specialist Zach Bradshaw:
"These projections account for the historical performance (goals scored and minutes played) of the two players since 2010, strength of opposing defences faced (measured by SPI defensive rating), game location, and the potential for injury or missing games. Based on these inputs, the predictor will estimate the chance of each player scoring any number of goals for each remaining game. From this, we can project the total number of goals scored, hat tricks, and the chance of each player accruing more goals than the other over the course of the entire Liga season."