According to Marca, Cristiano Ronaldo has informed his teammates that he believes he can catch Lionel Messi in the race for La Pichichi — La Liga's golden boot award.
So, let's break it down. First, Messi, La Liga's current goal leader. Here are Messi's first 11 goals in this La Liga campaign.
And here's his 12th, against Athletic Bilbao.
Messi now has 12 goals in 11 matches, which puts him three clear of the next-highest scorer in La Liga.
Meanwhile, here's every single Cristiano Ronaldo goal in La Liga so far.
Ronaldo currently has one goal in seven La Liga matches (he missed four due to suspension).
So, through the rest of La Liga's season, Ronaldo needs to score 10 more goals than Messi to split La Pichichi and 11 more goals than him to win it outright. Sure, it's possible that he could do it. He is Cristiano Ronaldo after all, but Lionel Messi is also Lionel Messi. And Lionel Messi has a 10-goal head start. Not to mention Cristiano's conversion rate this season, the worst among all goalscorers in Europe's top five leagues.
Cristiano is probably not blowing smoke here. I think he honestly believes he can win La Pichichi. He wouldn't be Cristiano Ronaldo if he didn't. The odds are long, though, is what I'm saying.