Ronaldo v Messi: Who Will Win the Battle for the Pichichi?

LONDON, May 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

With Real Madrid securing their first Primera Division title amid joyous scenes in the Basque Country, the focus now turns to the individual battle between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to finish top scorer, with the Argentine the odds-on favourite to wrest the trophy back from his rival with two games to go.

Real Madrid wrapped up their first La Liga title in four years on Wednesday evening with a 3-0 win at Athletic Bilbao and as their shirt sponsors, bwin extends its heartiest congratulations to Jose Mourinho's men for their stunning achievement.

But while Los Blancos fans celebrate a richly deserved success, you can bet that the thoughts of star man Cristiano Ronaldo will be quickly turning to overhauling Barcelona's Lionel Messi to finish as the division's top scorer.

Regardless of where you stand on the eternal Ronaldo v Messi debate, watching the two greatest players on the planet battling for goalscoring supremacy in recent seasons has been a rare privilege.

And with Messi currently leading the race for the 'Pichichi' with a jaw-dropping 48 goals to Ronaldo's 46, the Portuguese star's ego will be hurting, even though he probably wouldn't admit it at such a joyous moment in his Real career.

With just two games remaining, bwin make Ronaldo the 3/2 outsider to win Spain's version of the golden boot for the second time in a row, having set what was then a record with 41 goals last term.

And judging by his shoot-on-sight policy at San Mames - he scored a header but also missed his second penalty in a row - the former Manchester United man still reckons he can surpass Messi's final total.

Real complete their league campaign with a trip to Granada and a home game against Mallorca, so Ronaldo has a decent chance of making hay (you can even win VIP tickets to the latter fixture courtesy of bwin in this competition).

Messi, whose hat-trick in Barca's 4-1 win over Malaga saw him beat Gerd Muller's all-time record for goals in one season in Europe - he has now fired a staggering 68 in all competitions - is the 1/2 favourite with bwin to hold off Ronaldo's challenge.

With a Catalan derby against Espanyol at Camp Nou and a visit to Real Betis to come on the final day, the little Argentine genius will no doubt have plenty of backing in this market.

Bet on the race for the Pichichi with bwin here - we'll match your first deposit up to £25!

Bwin is offering a completely free £50 bet to anyone who can correctly guess the time of the first goal in the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool, while also pricing England at an industry-leading 12/1 to win Euro 2012.

Notes to editors

About bwin.party

bwin.party digital entertainment plc is the world's largest listed online gaming company and owns the bwin brand. The company was formed from the merger of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming Plc on 31 March 2011. Incorporated, licensed and regulated in Gibraltar, the group has over 3,100 employees in offices in Europe, India, Israel and the US and generated total pro forma revenue of €814.0m and pro forma Clean EBITDA of €193.2m in 2010. bwin.party is also licensed in France, Italy and Alderney, and commands leading market positions in each of its four key product verticals: online sports betting, poker, casino and bingo with some of the world's biggest online gaming brands including http://www.bwin.com, http://www.PartyPoker.com, http://www.PartyCasino.com and http://www.FoxyBingo.com. At the heart of our business, our proprietary software, online gaming platforms and a strong portfolio of games collectively differentiate our customer offer compared with our competitors.

Picture-Download: http://www.bwinparty.com/MediaCenter/ImageLibrary.aspx

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bwinpartypress

Contact information:
Press
chris.bryant@bwinparty.com 
+44(0)207-337-0287