Riyadh XI vs PSG

Last dance Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi get ready to face off for one last time. PSG are warmly welcomed to Riyadh The Ligue 1 side have shared.

This could be the last clash between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, as their paths are unlikely to cross again now that the former is playing in Saudi Arabia. Over their careers, the Portuguese and the Argentine have faced each other in 34 official matches, with 10 wins for Ronaldo, 15 wins for Messi and nine draws. This, then, will be the first look we get at him in Saudi Arabian football.

90′ 4 minutes added on. 89′ Riyadh comes close to getting a fourth but shot just breeze past the goal bar. 84′ Free-kick played but inches away from goal with ...

Riyadh equalizes for the third time! The Argentine opens the scoring in the game with a close-range shot that beat the goalkeeper in goal for Riyadh All-Stars. Hyu Son Jang the goalscorer. 15′ Neymar with a shot inside the box but kept away by the Riyadh goalkeeper as PSG continue to search for a second goal. 8′ Riyadh with a counter attack at the PSG defence but got snuffed out by Sergio Ramos at the backline for PSG. 44′ Mbappe with a close-range chance for PSG but saved by the Riyadh goalkeeper as PSG keeps mounting pressure for a third goal.

Neymar and Kylian Mbappé also feature in PSG's 5-4 win over Riyadh XI in what was a bizarre exhibition match.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, the 1.3 million concurrent viewers who had been watching the match on a YouTube livestream clicked off and asked their mothers what was for dinner. The 10 men of Paris scored a fifth through the substitute Hugo Ekitiké before, in the 90th minute, Ronaldo came up on the big screen and blew a kiss to the crowd and the Riyadh sub Anderson Talisca scored a belter from the edge of the box. The scores were level at 2-2 and it soon became 3-3 when Sergio Ramos turned home the ball after a piece of Mbappé blood-twisting, then the Korean centre-half Jang Hyun-soo headed home for Riyadh from a corner. There was a third man in the walk-out, too, the Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, although the political significance of his presence was not immediately ascertainable. [Ronaldo’s arrival in the country](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/30/cristiano-ronaldo-al-nassr-saudi-arabia) this winter, on a contract worth $214m over its two-and-a-half-year duration, is a statement about the importance of sport to Saudi Arabia. That there was ultimately more to it than the appearance of two superannuated superstars will not come as a surprise to anyone who has been awake in the intervening period.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both scored as PSG saw off a Riyadh XI in a thrilling friendly at the King Fahd International Stadium.

[Riyadh XI](https://mscfootball.com/2023/01/psg-vs-riyadh-all-star-xi-why-is-gk-david-ospina-not-playing-for-ronaldos-team/) in a thrilling friendly at the King Fahd International Stadium. [PSG](https://mscfootball.com/2023/01/psg-vs-riyadh-all-star-xi-probable-lineups-and-team-news-for-2023-club-friendly-featuring-ronaldo-messi/) moved back in front early in the second half, Sergio Ramos headed back after good work from Mbappé on the touchline, but the visitors hit back moments later when Jang Hyun-soo headed in at the near post following a corner. Riyadh XI were then awarded a penalty after Ronaldo was brought down in the box by Navas, allowing the striker to level from the spot.