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Finally the reunion? For the first time since the Portuguese left for Italy in 2018, Cristiano Ronaldo Y Lionel messi They will meet on Tuesday (3 pm, with ESPN2 signal) in a ‘final’ for the leadership of group G in the Champions League.
Eleven Ballons d’Or, 250 Champions League goals and nine Champions League titles between the two … On Tuesday the spotlight will focus on the expected duel between the two world football stars, who will face each other in the highest European continental tournament in clubs for the first time since 2011.
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And it is that a long quarantine by covid-19, had prevented ‘CR7’ from being in the first leg on October 28, which Barcelona won 2-0, placing the Spanish in a good position to retain the group lead.
It is not ruled out that the two stars or either of them can rest considering that both teams are classified, but it seems unlikely that Ronald Koeman and Andrea Pirlo will deprive the world of this stellar duel.
‘Part of the story’
With the reverse of the first leg, Pirlo owes Messi his only defeat so far as a coach. “Messi is part of the history of modern world football. He and Cristiano have been doing incredible things for fifteen years and are at the top despite their age,” he had stated before the first leg.
This new chapter in the historical rivalry between the two ‘best enemies’ could allow Cristiano to balance his balance a bit against the Argentine ‘Flea’. And it is that both in its confrontations and in the number of individual trophies, it leads
Messi: 16 victories for the Argentine, 33, in his official direct confrontations, compared to 10 for the Portuguese, 35, (with 9 draws), and 6 Ballon d’Or for Leo against 5 for Cristiano.
Their last duel dates back to May 6, 2018, in a classic league between Barça and Real Madrid that ended 2-2. In the Champions League they have met five times, with two victories for Messi, one for Cristiano and two draws.
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Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United had eliminated Barça in the Champions semi-finals in 2008, in their first meeting on the international scene.
Messi took revenge in the final of the following edition, scoring one of the goals of the 2-0 victory. And their last confrontation on the European scene dates back to 2011, in the semi-finals in favor of the Catalans against Real Madrid (2-0, 1-1).
Against Dinamo Kiev (3-0) last Wednesday, the Portuguese scored his 750 goal as a professional, consolidating his position as the best scorer in the history of the Champions League with 132 goals, compared to Messi’s 118 (3 goals this season in Champions).
Juventus, which has only won one of the four games that Cristiano missed during his quarantine, has rediscovered its stability since the return of the Portuguese, who has scored seven goals in the last seven games (10 in total, of which 8 in Serie A and 2 in Champions).
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For his part, the Argentine seems to have started the season far from his standards: he has scored 7 goals in 14 official games, five of them from penalties. On Saturday, against the recently promoted Cádiz, Barça registered their fourth defeat in LaLiga (2-1), and the Argentine went back without scoring.
Author of a penalty goal in the first leg in Italy, Messi rested in Barça’s last two Champions League games against Ferencvaros and Dynamo Kiev, and should therefore be ready to receive his eternal rival at the Camp Nou.
In the event of a double, he could also equal ‘King’ Pelé in the number of official goals scored with a single club (643). An ideal setting for a long-awaited reunion.
SPORTS
With AFP
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