Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr debut in Saudi Arabia is expected on Thursday evening. The Portuguese world star made a transfer to the Saudi top club Al-Nassr last winter and will immediately meet his great arch-rival in a friendly match with a combination team of Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr. Lionel Messi is coming to visit.
The Argentinian world champion’s Paris Saint-Germain is on a sponsorship trip on a tour of Saudi Arabia. Coincidentally, Messi also visits the home base of Ronaldo’s team with his employer. On January 19, PSG will play against the combined team of Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr and that just happens to be the day that Ronaldo will make his first meters in his new jersey.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Ronaldo is ready to appear in top form against the French top club. The Portuguese, who signed a very lucrative contract and will earn hundreds of millions of euros with Al-Nassr, also made a special demand in his negotiation. Ronaldo has enforced that he will wear the captain’s armband in the match against Messi.
PSG in midst of a sporting crisis
The reunion in Riyadh is an important moment for Ronaldo. The Portuguese is eager to show what he has left against his arch-rival. Especially after Messi’s world title, Ronaldo is determined to assert himself one more time in the mutual fight.
In their careers, Ronaldo and Messi played 36 matches against each other. Messi won sixteen times, while Ronaldo took home eleven times. In those matches, Messi (21) scored one more goal than Ronaldo (20). Together they distributed twelve Ballon d’Ors. Messi was awarded the prestigious award seven times, Ronaldo was named the best player in the world five times.
In related news, Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier saw his star team fall against Stade Rennais for the second time this season on Sunday. The Frenchman hopes that PSG will find the form it had before the World Cup.
“I am especially disappointed with how we showed ourselves here. We have not created anything. We have plenty of work to do,” Galtier told Prime Video. PSG had only eight attempts on goal in the game against Stade Rennais: the lowest number this season in a league game.
“We were far too focused on possession,” the manager continued. “It is clear that we need to improve the connection between the lines. We knew we were going to have a tough game and we had it. The opposing goalkeeper had almost nothing to do. I’m not going to talk about worrying, but there needs to be awareness. We can think of a thousand excuses, but the World Cup is over.”
