Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are all set to face each other in a friendly clash between Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain and an all-star Saudi collaborative XI captained by Cristiano Ronaldo in Riyadh on Thursday.
This will be the first time ever since December 2020 that the two legends would clash on the pitch, the last time being when Barcelona beat Juventus in the Champions League.
Messi vs Ronaldo in Soudi Arabia
In terms of international football, the two legends are currently on different boats altogether, while Messi returns to the middle-east crowned a king after winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar almost a month back with Argentina.
Cristiano Ronaldo on the contrary would be making his world-class debut for his brand-new team Al-Nassr after transferring there in the January window, becoming the best paid player in the history. This would also be his first official return to pitch since the disappointing exit of Portugal from World Cup.
After leaving Europe for Saudi, Ronaldo had made the statement in his unveiling ceremony that his work in Europe was done, that he had won everything there was to win and played at every important club, Asia will be a new challenge.
When will Ronaldo play his first game for Al-Nassr?
The ex-Real Madrid icon will be making his debut for Al-Nassr in their match against PSG, housing stars like Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe.
Ronaldo had been registered late for the club despite completing his move at the start of January, owing to the rules regarding the limit of foreign players in a club and since Al-Nassr already had their hands full, they had to kick out Vincent Aboubakar to make room for Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was also serving a two-match suspension that was imposed on him the English Football Association back in November 2022 for throwing away the phone of an Everton fan after their match with Manchester United.
Ronaldo has been on the bench for the the last two matches played by Al-Nassr. And now that it is done, he is all set to make his high-profile debut on 22nd January.
However, his official debut in the middle-east has been along the selected players from Al-Hilal in a clash before the PSG battle.
Will Messi play against Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia?
Lionel Messi had earlier received a guard of honour after returning to train with PSG on 4th January after the World Cup. He has started every match for the Parisian club since then.
Despite the French champions not revealing their official line-up for the friendly, the Argentinian world champion is expected to start against his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Where and where will the PSG vs Saudi XI be played featuring Messi and Ronaldo?
The friendly between All Star Saudi XI and PSG, which will feature the GOATs Messi and Ronaldo will be played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the King Fahd Stadium.
The match is currently scheduled at 10:30 pm IST for the kick-off (8 pm in Saudi time).
