The two biggest strikers of La Liga this season Costa and Ronaldo is about to face each other for the 4th time. Atletico is welcoming Real and aims to take revenge at their own stadium after the recent heavy knocked out in Copa Del Rey.

Ben Hayward (Goal.com) has put up some statistical analysis between the 2 leading scorers (CR7 22, Costa 21) and it shows Ronaldo to be superior. It is agreed by most of the site readers, and a lot of them (mostly CR7's fans) find it disrespectful (towards Ronaldo) to compare Costa to him.

I think this is a ridiculous comparison. And to look at the statistic and claim Costa is no where near Ronaldo is UNFAIR. Not to take any credit from Ronaldo's great run, but for the fact that, Ronaldo plays and is surrounded by one of the strongest attacking force this season (if not the strongest or 2nd strongest) so far, this statistic simply is not significant. Without Ronaldo, Real still keep winning more than 3 goals per game (even with 10 men in CL)..., but I cant imagine Atletico without Costa.

"In total, the Costa has scored 27 times in 3,033 minutes - a goal every 112.33 minutes for the Rojiblancos. While Ronaldo has 36 strikes in 33 games for Madrid - one every 79.81 minutes overall."

You do realize that all Costa contributes to the team is goals, while Ronaldo does much more. He takes set pieces (and scores from them), is a natural leader on the pitch, drags away defenders to open up space from team mates, has to cross the ball in for others to score, all while constantly being marked by 2-3 men. Costa just poaches, and he is a good poacher at that too. Ronaldo's goals come from any and all angles. To be honest, I'm surprised Ronaldo even manages to average more than a goal per game with the amount men marking him simultaneously each game.

There is a reason why people say no one right now can touch Ronaldo and Messi, and that Ribery's performances in 2013 made the duo look less "otherworldly". "In total, the Costa has scored 27 times in 3,033 minutes - a goal every 112.33 minutes for the Rojiblancos. While Ronaldo has 36 strikes in 33 games for Madrid - one every 79.81 minutes overall." - says it all.

And the fact that you mentioned Real are capable of winning without Ronaldo, but Atleti can't without Costa says more about the teams rather than the players themselves. Real have depth, Atleti don't even have a decent second-striker.

Come on Costa, you can do it ^^.

Let's go Atletico. but CR7 is obviously superior to Costa.

@Dynasti: what you said about Ronaldo is almost the same with what all prolific strikers do. In team like Atletico where their middle fields are not as strong, creative as real do you think Costa can just wait for good balls in and score? He has to do much more. Real has all the crazy wingers and CAF players who can tear up defends and create so many space for other teammates. Playing against Real nowaday, marking Ronaldo alone is nothing, in fact, fail to mark any of their 3 strikers is equals to dead. Ronaldo thus has more space and time. Playing against Atletico, marking Costa well has already reduce half of Atletico's scoring opportunity.

Of course we are all surprise, the like of Messi, Ronaldo are marked every game and still manage to score an insane amount of goals every season. It is indeed remarkable.

Having said that, I do agree with the point that Messi and Ronaldo are up there due to their consistency over the years and crazy abilities. All I say is, this is not comparable and it's unfair to put Costa up there and statistically got bashed by some of these fans.

Well, game was done. Takeaways from both players are,

Ronaldo: Quiet game in the first half. Second half he was much more involved in the play. Had a decent penalty call when his free-kick bashed into Gabi's hand, and also has a great chance to put us on level terms with a header from Carvajal's cross. Scored the goal to keep us level.

Costa: Had a couple penalty claims, especially a big one from Ramos in the first half. If he didn't dive and do all the theatrics, he would've gotten at least one penalty his way for sure. Also picked up a yellow card for simulation against Arbeloa.

CR7 the winner of the two tonight, but Real the loser (now Atleti are better than us head-to-head, and Barcelona are going to be only 1 point behind us by the end of the night).

Yep, Ronaldo is the winner of the two tonight. Real is not the loser, not just yet if they win the league, dude be optimistic, and dont be too bitter about your rival head-to-head, your team looks sharp as ever. This year Atletico is at their strongest run in years. As long as they dont loose the title to either Barca or Atletico, Real would still be winner.

The winners is Benzema and Ancelotti, such a game changer. A decisive goal from Ronaldo, who costed 3 points for Atletico as RM keeps the 3pts lead. Costa played well but was really unlucky and a bit silly...
Anyway after looking to the game, we can congratulate both teams for this amazing fight, and ignore the refreing controversies, its a never ending story.

@Tiki

I actually thought the referee did a very good job tonight. He kept the game calm, and ignored all the theatrics from both Pepe and Costa, and kept the game flowing. Cheers to the ref ~

PS. I thought the game really changed after Isco came on. He needs more playing time. This kid has far too much talent to be on the bench.

I agree love the second goal from Atletico Madrid though they really put up a good fight

@Dynastian i cant believe the ref didnt see that (Ramos's foul)

@Wayne

He did see it. The problem is, Ramos shoved him away with his hand, but Costa is such a big guy, the fall seemed unrealistic. What's more is that it's not a clear-cut foul. Yes, Ramos pushed him away with his arm, but Costa is a big guy (which makes it all that much harder to push him down), and he's also racked up a notorious record for diving. This made the referee conclude that Costa could've just stayed up rather than fall.