Back in November, Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly bet his Real Madrid teammates that he'd end the season as the top goal scorer in La Liga. That wager was apparently made as a way for Ronaldo to rev himself up, and came when he had just one goal, which was far behind the 12 that Lionel Messi had already racked up at that point in the season.
Now, almost four months later, Ronaldo has closed major ground on the Barcelona star thanks to a torrid stretch. After his four-goal performance on Sunday, Ronaldo has racked up 18 goals in his last nine league games. That puts him at 22 goals, just three behind Messi's 25 with roughly two months left in the season.
If Ronaldo does surpass Messi over the final nine league contests, he'll walk away with the fourth Pichichi trophy of his career.
Ronaldo's hot streak has come while his club continues to struggle. Real Madrid currently sits 15 points back of archrival Barcelona. At least the team is still in contention for its third straight Champions League Trophy—they square off against Juventus in the quarterfinals next week—which would salvage a disappointing season by their standards.
