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Lionel Messi and Inter Miami have a two-game tour of Saudi Arabia this week, the first match on Monday against Al-Hilal.
The second match will be played on Thursday against Al Nassr where Messi is likely to share the pitch with longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo, assuming the Portuguese star recovers from a calf injury to play. The two icons, Messi and Ronaldo, have faced each other 35 times in their careers, with Messi claiming 16 victories to 10 wins by Ronaldo and nine draws between the two. In those matches, Messi has scored 21 goals and 12 assists, while Ronaldo has scored 20 goals and one assist. The Al Nassr team coached by Portuguese manager Luis Castro, currently sits second in the table behind Al-Hilal, and also features other stars like Sadio Mane and Aymeric Laporte. Inter Miami CF played six preseason games last season in Florida. Messi's side Inter Miami will start their 2024 MLS campaign against Salt Lake on February 22. The year 2023 saw Messi leave Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) after which he joined the MLS side as a free transfer. For Miami, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner scored 11 goals after appearing in 14 matches. The Argentine won the Ligue 1 title with PSG in 2023 before joining the Miami-based side, where he won the 2023 Leagues Cup, a competition between MLS and Mexico's Liga MX sides, scoring 10 goals. Al-Hilal, which will compete in the first match against Inter Miami, is the most successful team in the history of Asia with 66 titles to its name and currently sits on top the table in the league. The team is coached by former Sporting CP player and manager Jorge Jesus and boasts star players such as Neymar, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Kalidou Koulibaly and Malcom. Unfortunately, Neymar is not available for the match on Monday due to an ACL injury. The Brazilian star will miss the remainder of the ongoing season, which comes as a huge blow for his club, Al-Hilal, who spent nearly 90 million Euros to bring him to the Saudi Pro League. The player will now hope to get fit in time for the Copa America 2024, which starts in June in the US. (ANI)
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