Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are still playing and scoring goals, one in France and the other in Saudi Arabia.
But the reality is that after 15 years of great rivalry between the two, the fact that the Portuguese left Europe made the football world look for a new duel.
It seems that this season it happens.
That the time has come for the next two superstars to replace Messi and Ronaldo in the unofficial fight for the title of the best footballer in the world: Kylian Mbappe and Erling Holland.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi.
We cleared the stage, photo: AFP
Mbappe has been at the top of the world for several years.
He is only 24 years old, but managed to win the World Cup and score a hat-trick in his second World Cup final.
Holland scored in bunches in the past as well, but this season he established his status as one of the best players in the world, when he arrived at Manchester City, the best team in England in recent years.
32 goals in 31 games for Madi City is an amazing figure for a 22 and a half year old player in his first season in the Premier League.
Tonight, Holland will return to Germany with the aim of scoring against Leipzig, to help City win the only title they still don't have in their trophy cabinet: the Champions League.
Even Mbappe, who is 19 months older than Holland, has not yet won the Champions League.
He was in the semi-finals and the final, but that title is still missing.
PSG lost last week to Bayern Munich 1:0 in Paris, and right now the chances are not in his favor to continue far in the Champions League this season.
City, on the other hand, is considered the big favorite to win the title.
The pair have met on the turf twice before.
In the round of 16 3 years ago, Dortmund beat PSG 1:2 in Germany with a brace from the Norwegian, and in the second leg it was Mbappe who celebrated when the French won 0:2 and qualified for the quarterfinals.
Mbapa
Iloy, photo: Reuters
Speed is the name of the game
To date, Mbappe has scored 261 goals in 371 games.
Holland scored 188 in 236.
Apart from the fact that these are two of the greatest scorers in the world, they are also two runners.
Killian measured a record speed of 38 km/h - more than the average speed of Usain Bolt when he set the world record in 100 m (37.58 km/h).
In contrast, Holland was measured at a speed of 36.3 km/h - very fast, but less fast than Mbapa.
And as in the duel between Messi and Ronaldo, there are also many enlightening data in the comparisons between the two young stars.
For example, Mbappe was the youngest in history to reach 10 goals in the Champions League (8 days before he celebrated 19), and then broke Messi's records when he became the youngest to reach 20, 30 and 40 goals.
But then the Norwegian arrived like a storm, and in three and a half years managed to score 28 goals in 23 games in the Champions League.
Along the way, he broke Mbappe's record by more than a year, when he reached 20 goals at the age of 20 and 231 days.
Another pair tonight, and he will break another record of the Frenchman.
Mbappe is considered a more versatile player, which is reflected in a respectable amount of assists: he has 23 in the championship and 125 in his career.
Holland with only 3 assists in the championships and 42 in his career.
Holland.
Came like a storm, photo: EPA
The Frenchman has another advantage: he plays for one of the best teams in the world, and will likely win several more international titles in the future.
Holland plays for the Norwegian team, which probably won't be able to achieve results, even though they have him and Martin Odegaard from Arsenal.
But on a personal level, he does the job with 21 goals in 23 games for the team.
Mbappe scored 36 goals in 66 games for France.
The season is far from over, and the Hamad duo will continue to break records.
For example, Mbappe needs only 3 more goals to become the greatest PSG scorer of all time.
And Holland?
He needs 9 more goals in his remaining 14 league games to break the record of goals in one season in the Premier League (34, by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole).
Anyone bet it won't happen?
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