Leo Messi and Barcelona are enduring a torrid time, with the club slumping to a fourth successive defeat which has seen them dumped out of the Champions League and blowing La Liga title race into a full on race to the finish. Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo, his arch nemesis remain just a point behind with the Portugese in full flow outscoring 31 goals to Messi’s 23, as the latter finally ended his goal drought with his first goal in 514 minute against Valencia in a 1-2 loss.

The Argentinian maestro, however is still ahead of Cristiano, when it comes to valuation. A study conducted by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) reveals Messi commands €141m while Cristiano comes second with €101m. A multi-criteria method was used looking into such variables such as number of goals, assists created, leadership, bookings, and marketing. The analysis covered the 2014-2015 season, taking into account, La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup, Club World Cup and Champions League.

Things could obviously change in the 2015-2016 season and for those wanting a say in the never ending and inconclusive Messi vs Cristiano debate a MOOC course at the www.upvx.es starting 25th April in conjunction with MIT and Harvard will be available.