BARCELONA’S Lionel Messi is widely acclaimed as the greatest player of his generation. But with Cristiano Ronaldo netting his 7th hat-trick of the season last night, who really is the best player out of the two? You decide...

BARCELONA’S Lionel Messi is widely acclaimed as the greatest player of his generation. But with Cristiano Ronaldo netting his 7th hat-trick of the season last night, is it really that clear cut?

Ronaldo scored his treble in Real Madrid’s 4-1 win over rivals Atletico Madrid which intensifies the battle between the two best players on the planet.

The Portuguese superstar, 27, has represented three clubs in his professional career - Sporting CP, Manchester United and now Real Madrid.

In the summer of 2009 he became the most expensive footballer in history, costing Real Madrid �80million from Manchester United.

Ronaldo is considered as technically one of the greatest players in the world, a reputation gained by his exceptional skill, fearsome goal record, and stunning free-kicks.

In his career so far, Ronaldo has scored 261 goals in 459 matches. Surprisingly, he has surpassed his Manchester United goals record with Real Madrid in under half the amount of appearances.

This season Ronaldo has scored 51 goals in 43 games with 40 of these goals coming in the league. He has also helped his team by providing 11 assists.

Meanwhile, Lionel Messi, 24, has been with Barcelona since joining the youth system when he was 11 - after the club agreed to pay the $900 a month medical bill to treat his hormonal growth disorder.

Messi has gone on to represent the club 320 times, scoring 241 goals.

Well known for his blistering pace, balance and skilful dribbling, Messi has become only the second player to win the coveted Ballons d’Or trophy 3 years in a row.

He has recently became the first player to ever score 5 goals in a single UEFA Champions League game in a 7-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on March 7. In the next round of the competition he scored twice to become the first player to score 16 goals in a single champion’s league season.

On March 20, Messi broke the Barcelona all-time scoring record - which had stood for 60 years.

So far this season Messi has scored 56 goals in 46 appearances.

He has scored 9 hat-tricks this season and has also contributed with 25 assists, 13 of these coming in the league.

So is the Argentinian the greatest player of his generation, or is Ronaldo closer than some people think?

Tell us what you think, and cast your vote in the poll.