Riyadh will be the stage this afternoon for another match between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, a Saudi government-sponsored private match between a mix of players playing in Arabia and Paris Saint-Germain, scheduled for 5pm (Bola TV). A challenge that presupposes even more curiosity, as it is CR7’s debut in that country since the move to Al Nassr. Even with beans, the Portuguese striker today has a chance to match or surpass a rival’s goal in terms of head-to-head confrontations.
There are those who call it The Last Dance (The Last Dance), and this could very well be the last duel, as CR7 decided to take a new direction in its career over the next two and a half years by moving to the Saudi league . , and at club level, at least officially, they are no longer allowed to face each other.
Known as adversaries, Ronaldo and Messi have been in the spotlight of world football for almost two decades – they have faced each other 36 times, the vast majority of times they have met in the Spanish league (the Portuguese at Real Madrid; the Argentinian in Barcelona). Messi has an advantage in head-to-head (16 wins, nine draws and 11 defeats), but there are some who could return today in favor of CR7, in terms of the goals scored in the duels they fought. The bills are 22-21 in favor of the Argentine, that is, if Ronaldo scores they are tied, if he scores twice and Messi doesn’t score, he outscores his rival.
The King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh will have a packed house and a VIP ticket was auctioned for more than 2.5 million euros. Apparently the two headliners of this particular game will only play for 45 minutes, but it is certain that they will coincide on the pitch. The Portuguese striker will even captain the Saudi All-Star XI, coached by Argentinian Marcelo Gallardo and featuring familiar faces such as Talisca (ex-Benfica), Matheus Pereira (ex-Sporting), Marega (ex-FC Porto) or Andre Carrillo (former Benfica and Sporting).
More than two years later, the two Golden Balls face each other again. The last confrontation took place on December 8, 2020, in a Champions League group stage match between Barcelona and Juventus, at Camp Nou, which ended with the Italians winning 3-0, with Ronaldo scoring two goals from a great penalty kick.
The duels between Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi were mostly in Spain, but they are divided into different competitions – 18 in the Spanish League, six in the Champions League, five in the Spanish Cup, another five in the Spanish Super Cup and two in the national team level).
The first clash between the two players took place about 14 years ago and the stage was the semi-final of the Champions League. At the Camp Nou, Barcelona, coached by Frank Rijkaard at the time, and Manchester United, coached by Alex Ferguson, drew 0–0 in a game that also saw two former Portuguese internationals line up: Deco for the Blaugrana and Nani for the Red Devils.
Market Value and Securities
In 2004, when he switched from Sporting to Manchester United, CR7 was worth 18 million euros. It continued to rise after that, reaching €120 million in the 2014/15 season and in 2018. As he left the Meringues for Juventus, and later the Italians for the return to Manchester United, the Portuguese striker’s market value began to plummet to chop . Today he stands at 20 million, not only because of his age, but also because he decided to play for Al Nassr, in Saudi Arabia, a league with less visibility.
Messi rose to the first team of Barcelona in 2004 and was valued at three million euros at the time. It didn’t take long for it to be noticed and its market value increased from season to season – between the summer of 2008 and 2017 it was worth €120 million. In the first half of 2018, the Argentina international reached his highest price ever with 180 million euros. Then it started to fall and currently, even after recently winning the title of world champion for Argentina and being one of the figures of PSG, it has a market value of 50 million euros.
In general, and taking into account his entire career, the Argentine has more titles on his resume than the Portuguese – 42 to 33. And he added to his history a trophy that Ronaldo will no longer achieve, that of the win a soccer world cup. . However, Ronaldo has an advantage in terms of Champions Leagues, as he won five (one with Manchester United and four with Real Madrid) against Argentina’s four (all with Barcelona).
Messi and Ronaldo nurtured probably the biggest and longest-lasting rivalry in world football history for nearly two decades. But the truth is that there was always the utmost respect between them. The best proof of this was CR7’s recent praise for the Argentinian in the famous interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.
“An incredible, magical, top player. As a person we shared the top for 16 years, I have a great relationship with him. We are not friends, but he is like a teammate. I have a lot of respect for him for the way he always talks about me. He’s a great guy, he does everything for football. He’s probably the best I’ve seen, besides Zidane,” he said.
Source: DN
