Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are set to lock horns for possibly the final time on Thursday night when the duo play in an exhibition match in Saudi Arabia.
Former Manchester United star Ronaldo joined Saudi Pro League table toppers Al-Nassr at the start of the January window. And he will captain an All-Star XI made up of players from his new club and rivals Al-Hilal when they face Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday.
It will be the 37th time that Messi and Ronaldo have faced each other, with many of their previous match-ups coming during their time at Barcelona and Real Madrid. In fact, they have met just once in the last five years.
That was a Champions League group stage match back in 2020, when Ronaldo's Juventus drew with Messi's Barcelona. Unsurprisingly, the rivalry between the duo has dominated the narrative each time they play.
Thursday's meeting is likely to be one of the final times the duo meet on the pitch, given Ronaldo's move to Saudi Arabia. And he will have to seriously outshine Messi if he is to claim the bragging rights from their meetings throughout the years.
In their 36 meetings so far, Messi has scored 22 goals to Ronaldo's 21, though the World Cup winner has also notched 12 assists, with his rival only managing to set up a team-mate once.
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Messi averages 0.61 goals per game compared to 0.58 for Ronaldo and also averages a strike every 142.7 minutes. Ronaldo is only 18 seconds behind his bitter rival, though that gap widens when looking at total goal contributions.
In those terms, Messi is way ahead, averaging a contribution every 92.4 minutes compared to 136.5 minutes for Ronaldo. Three of Messi's goals came as part of a hat-trick, though Ronaldo has not managed that feat when facing his rival.
While Ronaldo is famed for his free-kicks, he has never managed one when going up against Messi, who has scored two in their clashes. Messi has also scored seven penalties compared to six for Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is ahead when it comes to headed goals, scoring two of those compared to Messi's one. But the duo are tied for goals scored with their weak foot, with the rivalry finely poised heading into Thursday's clash.
One area where Ronaldo has no chance of pulling ahead of Messi is in wins, with the Argentine triumphing 16 times over his rivals. While he may he annoyed about Messi's success against him, Ronaldo clearly holds his rival in high regard.
“Amazing player is magic, top… As a person, we share the stage 16 years, imagine, 16 years. We share. So, I have great relationship with him," he said in his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan.
"I'm not friend of him in terms of, what I mean friend is the guy who was with you in your house, speaking on the phone, no, but it's like a teammate. He’s a guy that I really respect the way he always speak about me.
"Even his wife or my wife, my girlfriend, they always respect and they're from Argentina. My girlfriend is from Argentina. So good. What I am going to say about Messi? A great guy who does great things for football.”
