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Messi vs. Ronaldo: Head-to-head record, most memorable clashes

admin12 December 2023Last Update :
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Messi vs. Ronaldo: Head-to-head record, most memorable clashes،

It has been confirmed that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will come face to face, potentially for the final time, when Inter Miami CF travel to Saudi Arabia to face Al Nassr in the Riyadh Season Cup next year.

Messi, 36, and his MLS team will also face Saudi side Al Hilal on January 29 before taking on Al Nassr on February 1, just days before their star player's 39th birthday.

The Miami-Al Nassr match is already being dubbed by some as “the last dance” between the two greatest players of their era – and perhaps of all time – as it could well represent the last competitive meeting between the two superstars of their professional career. careers.

Messi and Ronaldo clashed earlier this year when Paris Saint-Germain traveled to Saudi Arabia for an exhibition match against a Saudi Pro League XI. Both star attractions managed to get on the scoresheet (Ronaldo actually scored twice) as the Saudi side won 5-4 in Riyadh, although the friendly did not count in any official statistics .

They may be playing their football on opposite sides of the world these days, but the 2024 Riyadh Season Cup will bring these two long-time rivals together again.

Editor's note: This article was first published on April 24, 2020 and has since been updated.

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Face-to-face

Messi and Ronaldo have faced each other a total of 36 times in competitive matches for club and country. Throughout Ronaldo's senior career, the only player he has faced this often is Andres Iniesta (36 times). On the other hand, Messi has faced three other opponents several times during his career: Sergio Ramos, Diego Godin and Karim Benzema.

The first ever Messi-Ronaldo meeting took place on April 23, 2008, when 20-year-old Messi came face to face with 23-year-old Ronaldo as Barcelona and Manchester United played out a 0-0 draw in the first leg. the semi-finals of the Champions League. Ronaldo also missed a penalty at the Camp Nou in the only meeting between the pair which ended goalless, but United's 1-0 victory at Old Trafford took them to the final where they beat Chelsea.

At the time, the two shared a Champions League title, 18 Champions League goals and precisely no Ballon d'Or. Those numbers now stand at nine European crowns, 269 UCL goals and 13 Ballon d'Ors in total. Additionally, Ronaldo led Portugal to glory in the 2016 European Championship and the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2019, while Messi led Argentina to triumph in the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 World Cup.

Although classified as an exhibition match, the 5-4 friendly between PSG and Al Nassr in January 2023 is the most recent meeting between Messi and Ronaldo. This is the fifth different country in which the pair have faced off, having previously faced each other in official matches in Spain, England, Italy and Switzerland.

The most recent competitive encounter came when Ronaldo scored twice from the penalty spot in a 3-0 Juventus win over Barcelona in the Champions League group stage.

Messi leads the head-to-head record with 16 competitive match wins to Ronaldo's 11, while there have been nine draws. Messi also has one more goal to his name in their meetings, having scored 22 to Ronaldo's 21, but it's in terms of assists that he really comes into his own with 11 goals created compared to just one for his rival.

Ronaldo has represented four clubs since his first match against Messi in 2008, Messi is now on his third following his mid-season move to Miami. The duo have faced each other five times in the knockout stages of the Champions League: the two semi-final matches in 2007-08 (Barca v Manchester United) and 2010-11 (Barca v Real Madrid), as well as the season 2008-09. final in Rome in which Messi scored for Barça in a 2–0 victory over Manchester United.

Ronaldo may be the Champions League's all-time top scorer with 141 goals in total, but his penalty streak against Barca in the 2020-21 group stage was the first (and so far only) time he scored in the competition while sharing the field with Messi, who scored three times in European clashes against Ronaldo's teams.

Messi took his Champions League goal tally to 129, placing him second all-time, before leaving for the United States in the summer. Barring a sensational return to an elite club in Europe, he is unlikely to add more to that total. Yet strange things have happened.

The most memorable clashes

Among the 36 occasions when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have faced each other, there have been some truly memorable encounters. Here are six of the best.

The 2009 final in Rome was billed as a gladiatorial clash between the world's two best players, and this time Messi emerged victorious. Barca managed to keep United at arm's length in Rome to win 2-0 – with Messi scoring a rare header for his side's second goal – and secure their first ever league, domestic cup and Copa del Rey treble. Europe.

The match which was seen as a sort of testing ground for Messi and Ronaldo (who were both Ballon d'Or winners at this stage) veered off script as the Camp Nou witnessed a historic humiliation of the Real and his coach, José Mourinho. Messi didn't score, but he did set up two goals as he played a central role in Barca mauling their opponents, who started the game top of La Liga and unbeaten in seven matches. The heavy score was immortalized by Gerard Piqué's “five fingers”.Manita” (“Little Hand”) salutes to the world that watches us.

Ronaldo finally triumphed over Barça as a Real player for the fifth time. The Madrid striker was the only scorer, as seen with his towering header in the 103rd minute. The Whites snatch the Copa del Rey from under Barça's nose. However, this final at Mestalla took place in the middle of an intense series of four Classics in three weeks, which saw Barca reach the Champions League final at the expense of their bitter rivals.

Ronaldo prevailed again when the old adversaries met at the Camp Nou towards the end of the 2011-12 league campaign. Barca have given up their hopes of defending their league title as Ronaldo winners. The Whites seven points clear at the top of the table with four matches remaining. Ronaldo's goal – which he scored in an unusually low-key manner by gesturing to “calm down” while his teammates celebrated – also saw Real break the Spanish league goalscoring record with goal no. 109 of the season, and they raced to the title soon after.

Ronaldo inflicted Copa del Rey heartbreak on Catalonia once again when the Real man produced a star performance to send Barcelona packing. After the first leg ended 1-1 at the Bernabeu, the Portuguese striker scored twice – via a penalty he himself won after a foul from Pique, then a towering header – and curled almost to himself a 3-1 victory at the Camp Nou in the second leg to seal Real's place in the final.

Messi hit the headlines again after a 92nd-minute winner from the Argentine talisman secured a very late victory at the Bernabeu and kept Barca's title aspirations alive. Having already scored in the first half, Messi kept his cool to score the winner in injury time in a hostile atmosphere, then celebrate by pointedly reminding Real fans of his name.

If there is one statistic or fact to sum up the greatness of the rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo, it is this: during the nine years they were together in Spain, there was never a match null and void. Clasico.

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