Other than his six goals in the Champions League so far, Ronaldo has struggled in front of goal with just one La Liga goal to his name.
He missed the opening four games of the season due to a suspension picked up in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup win against Barcelona.
But Real Madrid lost on his return to league action in a shock 1-0 defeat to Real Betis.
And last weekend’s loss to Girona was followed by a demoralising defeat to Tottenham with the Premier League side mounting more pressure on Zinedine Zidane.
In contrast, Barcelona have enjoyed a near perfect record in the league with Messi scoring 12 in 10 games.
And the Argentina international reportedly knows why Ronaldo has been struggling of late.
According to Diario Gol, Ronaldo is secretly annoyed that he isn’t getting a contract renewal despite publicly stating his intent not to do so.
The report claims Ronaldo is upset because he wants to be on the same wage as Messi at Barcelona and the Portuguese star will leave on a free at the end of his contract.
Ronaldo recently beat Messi to 2017’s Best FIFA Men’s Player award for the second year running and is odds-on favourite to win this year’s Ballon d’Or.
The 32-year-old will be hoping to add to his one goal in La Liga this weekend when Real host Las Palmas on Sunday (7.45pm).