PSG’s goals were from Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos, Kylian Mbappé, Marquinhos and Hugo Ekitike, while Cristiano Ronaldo (2), Jang Hyun-Soo and Anderson Talisca scored opposite.
The statistics between the Argentine and the Portuguese were as follows: 17 wins for Messi, 11 for Cristiano and 9 draws.
The reunion between Messi and Cristiano aroused expectations in the local and international population, the children who act as mascots were no exception and everyone ran in the run-up to greet the two figures who collided 37 times between clubs and national teams throughout their races in the last 15 years.
The departure of the teams had a great ceremony, with fireworks and different lighting with lasers.
The greeting between Messi and Cristiano took place seconds after the start of the game, with a handshake, a short hug and crossed smiles, in what could have been one of the last clashes between them.
PSG dated Keylor Navas; Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, Sergio Ramos and Juan Bernat; Fabián Ruiz, Carlos Soler and Renato Júnior Luz Sanches; Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar.
For its part, the group of stars from Saudi Arabia, of Marcelo Gallardohad a 4-3-3 scheme, led by Cristiano Ronaldo and accompanied Gonzalo “Pity” Martinez.
The match showed the differences in hierarchy in the first minutes and when Messi was facing goal, he did not hesitate to attack space with a diagonal and, with the complicity of goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais, opened the result in just two games.
On the opposite side, Cristiano Ronaldo, as always, represented a threat to the French base, and quickly responded in a counter that ended with a cover from his former teammate Keylor Navas, with whom they shared a team at Real Madrid.
The distractions from the PSG background, the same ones that led Christoph Galtier to complain and warn that the World Cup “is over” before the trip, gave some emotion to the first half and turned Navas into a figure.
However, the Costa Rican-born made a key mistake in the 31st minute when he went wrong and gave Cristiano Ronaldo a penalty after hitting him on the head. Obviously, the Portuguese, with his trademark, strong shot and crossed put the surprise 1 to 1 for the set of stars from Saudi Arabia.
Things continued to be complicated for PSG, with the early expulsion of Juan Bernat after cutting off a rival advance and in the last man position.
Everything was from the locals, who even dared to touch him in attack given the defensive passivity of PSG, until Marquinhos took advantage of an error in the mark of the figures of the Arabian league and returned the advantage to his team.
And this action ignited the offensive trident, with Messi as the leader, and a foot by foot from Neymar got a penalty after a wall with the Argentine, who maintains the level shown in Qatar. The executor of the shot was the Brazilian but the star was Mohammed Al-Owais, who waited for him and saved it.
Another time, in the Riyadh Season, Cristiano Ronaldo appeared, who showed his strength with a huge jump and a header to the post, from which he took advantage of the rebound and the distraction of the Spanish defender Sergio Ramos, and scored the second personal and the partial tie.
The complement showed him more connected to Kylian Mbappé, with his speed and control of the ball one on one, and he soon assisted Ramos, who redeemed himself from the mistake at the end of the first half, for the 3-2 (9m. ST).
The advantage did not last long because the defender Jang Hyun-soo, born in South Korea, anticipated the entire French defense and took advantage of a perfect cross from Gonzalo Martínez, one of the figures of the Saudi night with just 12 minutes played.
And like the whole day, with back and forth, emotions on both sides, Mbappé had his chance after several missed shots when taking the penalty that was given to Messi – he finished off and a defender put his arm. The Frenchman, as in the Qatar final, was too much for the rival goalkeeper and with his low cross shot he returned the lead in marking to his team with 15 minutes gone.
Cristiano’s departure brought the blinds down on the game and the same thing happened in front of Messi and the main figures of PSG, who were kept with their heads on for the remainder of a tight schedule between Ligue 1 and the Champions League.
As he left, Gallardo hugged Messi and said, among other words, “thank you”, and then the man from Rosario went to his substitute bench with a marked smile.
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
