The last and potentially last battle between Messi and Ronaldo takes place in Saudi Arabia, and beIN SPORTS has the exclusive coverage.
The contest is Thursday, January 19, starting at 11:30 am ET live on beIN SPORTS XTRA and beIN SPORTS XTRA en Español. Start time is noon ET.
Ronaldo moved to Saudi Arabia permanently for a record deal earlier in the year. Messi, now a World Cup winner, remains at PSG, playing alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.
Despite playing on different continents, this upcoming friendly is an opportunity to see two of the best of all time fight again. However, it is not Messi and PSG against Ronaldo and Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia. Instead, PSG face an all-star Combined XI from Riyadh.
Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, is home to three teams in the Saudi Professional League. Those are Al Shabab, Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr. However, this friendly excludes Al Shabab as they only have a combined squad of Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, the team that Cristiano Ronaldo plays for.
Ronaldo debuts in Saudi Arabia against Messi and PSG
The Portuguese star has not yet made his debut with Al-Nassr. A two-match FA ban was extended to Saudi Arabia, halting his debut. However, this match against PSG is in an uncompetitive setting. Also, he won’t wear the Al-Nassr jersey yet.
Ronaldo’s name and resume do enough to place him in this combined XI between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr. In addition, he helps the organizers to sell tickets and interest in the friendly. The Saudi Arabia fight is the first time Messi has faced Ronaldo since December 2020. Back then, the two players represented Barcelona and Juventus respectively. How times have changed for both of them since then.
In addition to Messi, Ronaldo has the challenge of facing Mbappé, Neymar and his former teammate Sergio Ramos.
beIN SPORTS to bring the clash
Game coverage is available on beIN SPORTS XTRA on Thursday, January 19.
beIN SPORTS XTRA is a free streaming channel in English that is available to viewers in the United States.
The broadcast channel offers a taster of beIN SPORTS exclusive live sports coverage. That includes access to select games from Ligue 1, SüperLig, Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana. In addition to AFCON, Ligue 2, CONMEBOL Recopa, CONMEBOL Sudamerica, Coupe de France and Coupe de La Ligue. Last but not least, XTRA features a lot of original sports programming.
To find out how to get the channel, visit our beIN SPORTS XTRA page for more details.
