What’s gone wrong for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?

Inter Miami are OUT of the Champions Cup and winless in five amid Lionel Messi injury concerns, while Al-Nassr’s title hopes fade and Cristiano Ronaldo sees red – what’s going on with the legends of the game?

Lionel Messi‘s first full season in MLS with Inter Miami is not going as smoothly as anticipated, despite the off-season addition of his former Barcelona running mate Luis Suarez.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner returned for Thursday’s CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final second-leg against Monterrey after missing four games with a muscle injury.

But Messi could do little to stop his side crashing out of the competition following a 5-2 aggregate defeat. It looks to be a similar case for his longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia.

 

Like Messi, Ronaldo has maintained his stellar individual performance but major team success is proving difficult. Al-Nassr find themselves 12 points adrift of leaders Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League and they too have been eliminated from continental cup competition.

The late-career plight of this generation’s two greatest footballers has been brought into focus and raises several questions. Perhaps above all else, what are they still doing it all for?

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami squad was eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup after a 5-2 aggregate defeat to Mexican side Monterrey

Cristiano Ronaldo was shown the 12th red card of his career after losing his head in Al-Nassr’s defeat to Al-Hilal on Monday night

Cristiano Ronaldo set to miss Al-Nassr games after learning punishment for elbowing Al-Hilal star in Saudi Super Cup defeat

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to be handed a two-match suspension for elbowing an Al-Hilal player in Saudi Super Cup defeat.

WHAT HAPPENED?

According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Portuguese will be handed a two-match suspension for his violent conduct on the pitch during Al-Nassr’s Saudi Super Cup semi-final against Al Hilal. During the clash, the 39-year-old threw his elbow at Ali Ali-Bulaihi which led to him being sent off.

The Disciplinary and Ethics Committee of the Saudi Football Federation sat with Ronaldo to interrogate him about the incident where the star footballer reportedly justified his action by claiming that he should not have been sent off in the first place. After the meeting, the committee has now decided to hand the player a two-game suspension which will see Ronaldo miss Al-Nassr’s crucial Saudi Pro League clashes against Al-Feiha on Friday and Al-Khaleej on April 27.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Saudi Arabia, coming back to Europe

 

 

Cristiano Ronaldo is playing his last months with the Al-Nassr team jersey. In fact, the Portuguese star will leave Saudi Arabia this summer to return to Europe.

This has been announced by Saudi media, insisting that Ronaldo has already informed Al-Nassr’s management of his decision. Ronaldo hasn’t had a good performance this season and has been constantly criticized by the media, which has influenced his decision to leave the Middle East.

The 39-year-old has a contract until next summer with the Saudi team, which he has requested to terminate early in order to return to European football.

In Europe, he will return to Portugal to the Sporting Lisbon team with which he began his professional career before leaving in 2003.

Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr team as a free agent in January 2023 and signed a two-and-a-half-year contract worth 200 million euros. With the Saudi team, Ronaldo hasn’t won any trophies, but this season he has scored 36 goals in 37 appearances and made 12 assists.

Throughout his career, Ronaldo has also played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus.

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