Riyadh: “So happy to be back on the pitch, and on the score sheet!! And nice to see some old friends!,” wrote Cristiano Ronaldo after playing a friendly match against Lionel Messi-led PSG.
Thursday’s game at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh was Ronaldo’s first appearance after signing a deal with Saudi’s Al-Nassr club. The 37-year-old footballer took to Instagram to share pictures of the friendly match against long time rival Lionel Messi-led PSG.
The Portuguese star also shared a picture with Messi along with his teammates’. The duo can be seen standing beside each other with Ronaldo’s hand on Messi’s shoulder.
On the other hand, Messi posted captionless pictures of the game. While, an Instagram reel was shared by PSG’s official handle, where the duo can be seen exchanging a polite smile, hugging and Messi saying something to Ronaldo as they meet. Ronaldo also shook hands with Neymar and hugged K Mbappe.
The PSG side was a star-studded line-up as featured some of football’s most successful players like Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Achraf Hakimi. Mbappe and Neymar also shared bits of the game on their respective Instagram accounts.
While Mbappe captioned the post as “Nice trip in Saudi Arabia,” Neymar chose to upload them without caption.
Meanwhile, Messi’s Qatari-backed PSG won 5-4 against a combined XI of Saudi Arabian teams Al Nassr and Al Hilal, captained by Al Nassr’s new signing Ronaldo, in front of 68,000 fans at King Fahd International Stadium.
Although his team lost, Ronaldo edged perhaps the final instalment of Ronaldo vs. Messi as one of the greatest rivalries in soccer history resumed in an unusual location.
—Agencies

KR Desk