A shock reaction, two goals, three good chances, two eye-catching backheels and an entire stadium cheering him on. So it was this Thursday, the 61 minutes of Ronaldo’s promising debut on Saudi lawns (he was considered the man of the match), in a match that marked the reunion with Messi, a lively person played in Riyadh, who came face to face with a mix of Saudi league stars and Paris Saint-Germain, which ended with a 5-4 victory for the French.
About a month later, Ronaldo returned to the competition – his last game was against Morocco, at the World Cup in Qatar, on 10 December, when he jumped off the bench in the 51st minute in the challenge that dictated Portugal’s exit from the competition -, he who made his debut on the Saudi lawns, having signed a two and a half year contract with Al Nassr.
Messi, also adored in those parts of the Middle East, opened the scoring in the third minute, responding with a subtle tap to an assist from Neymar. Three minutes later, Ronaldo had a good opportunity, but he let Navas save.
At 31″, the Portuguese striker and the PSG goalkeeper were again key players. CR7 attempted to head a ball into the penalty area and was hit in the face by the Costa Rican goalkeeper (a very visible mark remained). referee signaled a penalty and Ronaldo, who was assisted, scored, made his famous celebration and heard “siii” from the stands.
A few minutes later, Bernat was sent off. But even outnumbered PSG made it 2-1, by Marquinhos, after assistance from Mbappé. However, the French did not hold the advantage for long. It’s Ronaldo’s fault, who scored twice just before half-time – having headed the post, he didn’t miss the rebound and benefited from a poor clearance by Sergio Ramos.
Despite some news that Ronaldo would only play for 45 minutes, the Portuguese entered the second half just like Messi. And he almost didn’t score the third right away, but he allowed Navas to anticipate. Perhaps because the contract states that the two stars had to play for an hour, at 61″ and 63″ respectively, both were replaced. However, before assisting in the field on two more goals – Jang Hyun-Soo scored for the Saudis and Mbappé for the French. Before the end, Ekitike made it 5-3 for PSG (the Portuguese Renato Sanches, Danilo, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes also played) and Talisca reduced for the Saudis.
It should be noted that with the two goals scored, CR7 caught Messi in the confrontation between the two – in 37 games against each other, they scored 23 goals each.
Source: DN
