article_snippet: Ever wondered what the football world would be like without Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?
article_snippet: Well naturally we'd miss their stunning goals and dazzling trickery, but it seems erasing their would shake up the order of things in Spain.
article_snippet: Stats gurus Opta have calculated what the La Liga table would look like if the goals of the divine duo were taken away - and there's quite a dramatic change at the top.
article_snippet: La Liga would look very different if the goals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were taken away .
article_snippet: How the La Liga table would look if goals by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were taken away
article_snippet: But if they and Messi's contribution of 27 goals were subtracted, it's Barcelona who would enjoy a slender one-point advantage at the summit.
article_snippet: (Opta) went through every match this season in which Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored and took away their goals from the final score.
article_snippet: With Messi, Barcelona would still win all but one of the matches in which Cristiano Ronaldo has scored.
article_snippet: But taking away Cristiano Ronaldo's goals affects Real's season more dramatically.
article_snippet: Removing Messi hat-trick against Celta Vigo would see his hat-trick against Celta Vigo claim one point rather than three, and subtracting Messi goal against Villarreal last weekend means his hat-trick against Celta Vigo would lose instead of draw.
article_snippet: It does prove to an extent that Real are more reliant on the goals of Cristiano Ronaldo than Barcelona are on the goals of Messi.
highlights_snippet: Removing the duo's goals would give Barcelona a one-point advantage, regardless of Messi's 27 goal influence .
  