Messi vs Ronaldo in 2014: la decima and a lost final.

2014 is the densest year in the dataset — more dated records attach to it than to any other. Ronaldo scored 61, his third-best year, and Messi 58, his fifth-best; the margin was 3 and the combined 119 matched 2011 as the second-highest of the rivalry.

On 23 March, Messi scored a hat-trick at the Bernabéu in a 4–3 Barcelona win in which Ronaldo also scored — two of Messi's three were penalties, the last on 84 minutes after Sergio Ramos was sent off, and the treble took him past Alfredo Di Stéfano as El Clásico's all-time leading scorer. It is the only Clásico in the Messi–Ronaldo era in which both men scored and the match finished with seven goals.

On 24 May, Real Madrid won their tenth European Cup. Ronaldo scored a late extra-time penalty in a 4–1 win over Atlético Madrid, finishing the campaign with a record 17 Champions League goals.

Seven weeks later Messi lost a World Cup final. Argentina were beaten 1–0 by Germany in extra time at the Maracanã, Mario Götze scoring, and Messi was named player of the tournament. Diego Maradona's verdict was that "it's no good giving him the Golden Ball if you can't give him the World Cup — he deserved both." Ronaldo took his third Ballon d'Or in December, with Messi second.

Both were in career-best form across the seasons that straddle the year: Ronaldo's 2014–15 brought 61 goals in 54 games, his best for total goals, with a Pichichi and a European Golden Shoe; Messi's 2014–15 brought 58 in 57 and a treble.