There is no more fabulous rivalry in the history of football than that of
Lionel Messi
(35 years old) and
Cristiano Ronaldo
(37).
No matter how hard you search, you will not find anything like it.
He reaches a piece of information to support the assertion:
between them they have 12 Ballon d'Ors
.
And this Thursday, starting at 2:00 p.m. (ESPN) at the King Fahd stadium in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia
, the Rosario and the Portuguese face off again in the friendly duel between
Paris Saint Germain
and
Riyadh Season
, a team that includes footballers from
Al Nassr
and
Al Hilal
and will be directed by
Marcelo Gallardo
.
A question arises: will it be the last duel between the two?
Although the rivalry is latent, the end of the era for both came a while ago.
And it is that the last years of the two were far from being successful at the club level.
It is striking, for example,
that they have only played one game against each other in the last 1,718 days
, something like four and a half years.
The last precedent happened on December 8, 2020, with a 3-0 victory for Juventus against Barcelona at the Camp Nou with 2 goals from
Bicho
.
This afternoon will be
the 37th game that has them face to face
.
The previous matches were 18 for LaLiga, 6 for the Champions League, 5 for the Copa del Rey, 5 for the Spanish Super Cup and 2 for international friendlies.
La
Pulga
has a small advantage over the Portuguese: 16 wins and 22 goals, out of 11 wins and 21 celebrations.
The last time.
They played in December 2020 and it was a victory for Juventus del Bicho over Barcelona de la Pulga.
Photo: REUTERS/Albert Gea.
The first meeting between the cracks was for the Champions League, in one of the semifinals of the 2007/2008 season and with a victory for Manchester United of CR7, who equalized 0-0 at the Camp Nou and won 1-0 in England.
Another devastating fact: for 14 years, Messi and Ronaldo have shared the Ballon d'Or trophy, except in two editions (Luka Modric in 2018 and Karim Benzema in 2022).
The Argentine conquered it seven times (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021), the Portuguese five times (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017).
unstoppable.
"It was nice to have Cristiano in Spain, especially because he was at Real Madrid
," Messi blurted out the last time they were together, at the 2020 UEFA gala. "I was curious to know that after having this competitiveness for 15 For years we have a very good relationship.
We haven't had dinner together yet, but in the future it could be
. Messi and I had a great battle. We have helped each other to be better. This rivalry is football history", returned the Portuguese to his side in the front row.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, reunited thanks to Photoshop for an advertisement that was launched before the World Cup in Qatar.
Photo: Instagram.
Messi and Cristiano
were never friends, but they always respected each other
.
They also admired each other in silence.
The competition between the two empowered them.
At the beginning of their careers they were distant, although they grew closer over the years.
Both are billing machines and in recent months they shared an advertisement that went around the world.
It is amazing to analyze the numbers of the two. Messi has scored 794 goals in 1,005 games and Ronaldo has celebrated 819 in 1,145 duels. In titles, the Rosario has an advantage over the Portuguese: 41 against 33.
Cristiano and Messi, in times of youth and absolute rivalry playing the Spanish classic.
Photo: AFP PHOTO/ JOSEP LAGO.
The expectation that was generated in Riyadh by the confrontation between Messi and Cristiano was reflected in the solidarity auction organized by the Saudi tycoon Turki Al-Sheikh, president of the Spanish club Almería, adviser to the Royal Court and head of the General Entertainment Authority of the country.
Local businessman Mushraf al Ghamdi paid
almost three million dollars
(2,700,000) for VIP entry to watch the game in a box and after the game he will be able to take a photo with the two world stars.
In addition, as revealed by L'Equipe, PSG received almost 11 million dollars for participating in the so-called "Riyadh Season", a celebration that runs from October last year to January 22 with international events promoted by the Saudi state.
Messi and Ronaldo, two of the greatest in history, will play again.
There will be laughter, hugs and soccer;
It will be a luxurious celebration.
It will be the last?
Messi and Cristiano, in one of the two games they played representing their teams.
Photo: Juano Tesone.
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