Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo and the times Leo took CR7’s smile away: 23 goals in 37 games

They have faced each other 37 times with the duel between PSG and Riyadh Season that is played this Thursday in Saudi Arabia. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo know how to face each other and this could be the last time they face each other.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been the icons of world football for two decades and this 2023 they face each other in the exhibition duel that pits PSG against the Arab combonado, where the Peruvian André Carrillo is also called up.

And Lionel Messi was the first to appear. The Argentine opened the scoring in minute 3 of the game after a great pass from Neymar and with a good definition from Leo on the departure of Keylor Navas.

And so, Leo continues to set the tone for his duels against Cristiano Ronaldo. In the 37 duels, Messi has scored 23 times against 21 for CR7. But this is the first time that he marks him with a shirt other than Barcelona or Argentina.

Lionel Messi has marked the teams where Cristiano Ronaldo was on 23 occasions, in 17 of the 37 games that have been recorded this afternoon.

And although the match is still at stake, nothing can change the fact that Lionel Messi has more victories than Cristiano Ronaldo in the versus between them. So far there are 16 for Messi, 11 for Cristiano. Today one will add one more.

The first confrontation between the two was the 0-0 between Barcelona and Manchester United in the semifinals of the 2007-08 Champions League. That series was won by the English with a goal from Scholes in the return leg in Manchester.

Lionel Messi’s first goal against Cristiano Ronaldo’s team was in the 2008-09 Champions League final, at Wembley, in the third match between them. The culés scored via Etoó and Leo.

Cristiano’s first goal came with a Real Madrid shirt in the League. A 1-1 on April 16, 2011 for date 32 of the League. In that game, the Portuguese scored from a penalty to equalize the match that Barça won with both Messi, also from a penalty. It was the eighth duel between the two.

The last time they met before this friendly was in Juventus’s 3-0 win over Barcelona in the 2020 Champions League group stage.

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