Portuguese forward Ronaldo, who lost his World Player of the Year crown to current holder Messi, has now netted an incredible 10 goals in his last four league outings to take his tally for the season to 11.
After scoring four against Racing Santander last weekend following braces against Malaga and Deportivo La Coruna, he struck two late goals at Alicante-based Hercules to keep Real at the top of the standings with 23 points from nine matches.
Valencia's poor run continued when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by struggling Real Zaragoza earlier on Saturday.
With an annual budget of around 40 million euros, Hercules have about a 10th of Real's resources but they were able to frustrate Jose Mourinho's expensively assembled side until seven minutes after half-time.
The home side looked like holding on for a deserved point until the 82nd minute when Marcelo drove in from the left wing and Ronaldo was on hand to sidefoot home the rebound from Karim Benzema's shot.
"We were playing practically on our own in the second half," the Portuguese told a news conference.
"The most important thing was the three points that keep us in first place in the league for another week."
Messi raced through and sent a precise low shot past stand-in keeper Javi Varas for Barca's fourth in the 64th and Villa wrapped things up with a carbon copy of Messi's second in the 90th.
Valencia had been the season's early pace-setters, sparking hopes of a g
