Cristiano Ronaldo marked his debut in Saudi Arabia with two goals and a man-of-the-performance in a 5-4 defeat against Lionel Messi’s Paris Saint-Germain.
The 37-year-old was named as captain for the Riyadh All-Star XI in their exhibition match with the Ligue 1 giants and didn’t disappoint.
Messi opened the scoring in the nine-goal thriller before a Ronaldo brace – either side of a Marquinhos strike – had the two teams level at the break of the Middle Eastern friendly.
Ronaldo and Messi’s goals now both stand at 23 in the 37 meetings the iconic duo have played against each other during their careers.
Neither could find the decisive 24th after the break but PSG ran out the victors with Sergio Ramos, Kylian Mbappe and Hugo Ekitike ensuring the club lifted the Riyadh Season cup.
