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For the first time, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will meet in the group stage of the Champions League.
Ronaldo’s Juventus and Messi’s Barcelona will be in Group G along with Ukraine’s Dynamo Kiev and Hungary’s Ferencvaros.
The two best players in the game have not met in the Champions League in nine years. And they haven’t met in any competition since Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Turin two years ago.
They will now meet twice in the coming months, and if both the Italian and Spanish heavyweights exit the group as expected, there is the added possibility of meeting AGAIN in the knockout stages.
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Juventus board member and legendary former player Pavel Nedved said: “It will be a great clash with Barcelona and a fascinating match, because it allows those who, in my opinion, are still today the two best players in the world, Ronaldo and Messi, they face each other “.
With Ronaldo 35 and Messi now 33, the icons are not getting any younger. And while they continue to perform at a staggeringly high level, as their stats from last season demonstrate, one question still lingers at the back of their minds:
Could this be the last great battle between the couple?
THE HISTORY
No couple has dominated the Champions League like Messi and Ronaldo. Ronaldo has five titles, four with Madrid and one with Manchester United, against Messi’s four.
Only one player has more than five European crowns: Real Madrid legend Francisco Gento with six (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966). But it’s their scoring record that really sets the near-superhuman duo apart.
Ronaldo leads all-time goals in the competition, with 130. 105 of them were for Real Madrid; 15 for Manchester United; and ten for Juventus. Messi is second with 115 goals, with another Madrid legend, Raúl, third with 71 goals. That just proves the abyss in class.
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Parish fans of Messi and Ronaldo will continue to debate each player’s goal record. Messi, for example, has played 27 fewer games for his goals, which means his goal average is higher. Ronaldo, for his part, scores more goals in the round of 16 and is the only player to have scored in three finals.
That is an argument for another day. What is undeniable is that both have ignited the Champions League as no one else has, or perhaps never will.
They have met five times in the elite competition, and only one of those has reached the final of the tournament. Almost all will be remembered for a long time, although not all fondly. Here is the history of each of those clashes.
April 23, 2008 – Barcelona 0-0 Manchester United
Their first meeting came in the 2007-08 semi-finals, and it took Ronaldo less than three minutes to make his mark. He had sent a header towards the goal only for Gabriel Milito to block it with his hands. Unfortunately, Ronaldo’s attempt from 12 yards veered off the studs.
In a cautious affair, Messi was everywhere for a dominant Barcelona, and possibly the man of the match despite being substituted after an hour.
Ronaldo was relatively moderate as Barcelona forced the visitors to defend deeply.
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April 29, 2008 – Manchester United 1-0 Barcelona
The pair would renew their rivalry just a week later at Old Trafford. This time, Ronaldo claimed the right to brag, though again he was pretty quiet at night.
It was Paul Scholes who made the difference with an impressive 25-yard bullet in the 14th minute.
Barcelona fought back and once again dominated possession and territory, but it was United’s exceptionally disciplined defense that allowed them to reach their first Champions League final in nine years.
Messi didn’t shoot, but managed to leave Scholes stranded with some delicious footwork.
Ronaldo scored the first goal in the final against Chelsea, the first between two English teams, with an incredible header. He missed a penalty on penalty shoot-out after Frank Lampard’s draw ended 1-1 at regulation time. Fortunately, Ronaldo was saved when John Terry failed the next attempt, and United went on to lift the trophy.
May 27, 2009 – Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United
If the 2008 semi-final ended in Ronaldo’s favor, the 2009 final was all Messi. Samuel Eto’o opened the scoring for Barça in the 10th minute, ending a promising start for the reigning champions.
Xavi and Messi then took full control of the game. Messi’s thunderous header in the 70th minute was a beauty, an exclamation point in a historic season in which Barcelona became the first Spanish team to claim the La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble.
The game was Ronaldo’s last for the Red Devils. And although they would face Messi regularly in Spanish national competitions, the duo would need two more seasons to meet again on the biggest stage in Europe.
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April 27, 2011 – Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona
This season, the pair resumed their battle in the semifinals. Again, it was Messi who prevailed. Facing raucous 71,567 fans at the Bernabeau, El Clásico descended into madness.
Pepe was sent off, the fourth straight Classic in which a Madrid player saw red, before coach José Mourinho was also sent off. Barcelona’s substitute goalkeeper José Pinto was also sent off at halftime in a fight between the teams. Fans also threw objects at the players in the stands. In short, it was chaos.
But Messi rose above it all, scoring both goals late in the piece. The first saw Afellay charge into the area and find Messi for a shot close to the post. The second was one of the most magical goals of the Argentine genius. Near the midline, Sergio Busquets left the ball to Messi. He turned around, danced and dazzled his way into the area, beating four Madrid stars along the way, before passing the ball to Iker Casillas.
2-0. Take advantage of Messi again.
May 3, 2011 – Barcelona 1-1 Real Madrid
The fifth and final time the duo have met in Europe’s biggest club competition was another stalemate. Needing to overcome a two-goal deficit, José Mourinho (watching from a hotel room after his red card) sent a more offensive Madrid. And although Messi and Ronaldo were close, each playing the full game, neither found the net. Ronaldo ended up as one of Madrid’s five stars to be booked as tensions flared once again, with Real Madrid committing a whopping 31 fouls (many of them on Messi).
Pedro Rodríguez opened the scoring for Barça with a delicious goal after being sent on target by a punctual Andrés Iniesta. Ángel Di María put Marcelo ahead for the draw, but this was Barça’s night. As Pep Guardiola said, “This has been one of the most beautiful nights I have ever experienced.”
After reaching the final 3-1 on aggregate, Messi would win the man of the match award in the final, scoring once in a 3-1 win over Ronaldo’s former Manchester United.
One last time: a battle for the legacy
So the story of the film tells two tied semi-final matches, one semi-final win each and one win in the Champions League final against Messi’s Barcelona.
It’s been nine seasons since they last met in competition, a competition that obviously means a lot to both of them, that is at the center of so many debates among their fanatic followers.
As they hunt for greatness and the mantle of the greatest soccer player in history, this edition may be the last time they meet in Europe’s most important club competition.
And with the next World Cup still two years away, who knows if an injury or, God forbid, retirement could mean that this is indeed the last clash between the two.
If so, these encounters will mean much more than a place in the knockout stages. It could shape your legacies.
