Paris Saint-Germain and the Riyadh All-Stars put on a magnificent show on Thursday as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Sergio Ramos and Kylian Mbappé all found the back of the net in PSG's 5-4 victory. The stars showed out and one Ronaldo nutmeg vs PSG received enormous applause from the fans inside King Fahad International Stadium.
The lasting feeling from Thursday's 5-4 friendly between PSG and a Riyadh All-Star XI in Saudi Arabia is that Cristiano Ronaldo, on the verge of his 38th birthday, and Lionel Messi, 35, could play forever. Neymar, 30, looks like he's got a year or two left in him.
It was Ronaldo who scored Riyadh's first two goals while Messi opened the scoring for PSG in the third-minute. Both provided moments of dazzling skill, much to the delight of the businessman who paid $2.66 million for a single ticket.
Messi opens the scoring off Neymar's pass
Manchester City have topped the Deloitte Football Money League for the second year in a row as the world's highest revenue-generating club in the 2021-22 season in which fans returned to stadiums as COVID-19 restrictions were eased.
Abu Dhabi-owned City generated total revenue of $790.65 million, followed by Real Madrid ($771.42 million) and Liverpool ($758.45 million).
City's rivals Manchester United generated $744.41 million and Paris St Germain made $706.59 million.
A new chapter in the celebrated rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will unfurl on Thursday when they meet in an exhibition match as the Portugal forward gears up for his first game in Saudi Arabia since joining Al Nassr.
After a glittering career in Europe that saw him win four Champions League titles with Real Madrid and two Scudettos at Juventus, Ronaldo signed for Al Nassr, describing it as the "right moment" to share his experience in Asia.
I don't mean to brag, I don't mean to boast, but if you've been following The18 for the past year then you've already seen all 11 FIFA Puskas Award nominees. We have exquisite taste like that.
But in case you can't remember the strikes — arriving as early as Apr. 2 and as late as Kylian Mbappé's side-volley against Argentina in the World Cup final on Dec. 18 — here's a trip down memory lane with videos that you can watch right here, right now. I've also included a link to what The18 said at the time.
24 days after lifting the World Cup, Lionel Messi made his return to the pitch as league-leading PSG welcomed last-place Angers to the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
With Kylian Mbappé not returning to training until Thursday, PSG manager Christophe Galtier started Messi and Neymar out wide with 20-year-old French striker Hugo Ekitiké leading the line and Fabián Ruiz joining the attack from midfield.
Before the match, PSG players warmed up in shirts paying tribute to Pelé and there was a minute's applause before kick-off.
After a few days of rest, World Cup champion Lionel Messi returned to PSG training sessions and was warmly welcomed by teammates and the technical staff of the French club.
Messi was loudly cheered and received a guard of honor to celebrate his role in Argentina's title in Qatar 2022. Soccer advisor Luis Campos even gave him a small trophy to mark the occasion.
However, amidst Messi's honoring march, someone was not very happy: Ethan Mbappé, Kylian Mbappé's little brother.
After losing in the final stages of the World Cup and then suffering a first Ligue 1 defeat of the season this past Sunday, PSG teammates Kylian Mbappé and Achraf Hakimi quickly used their time off to get as far away from the sport as possible.
With the France and Monaco stars unlikely to feature whatsoever in Friday's Coupe de France Round of 64 match against third-tier Châteauroux, Mbappé and Hakimi departed for the United States and made a surprise appearance at Brooklyn's Barclays Center for an NBA game between the Nets and San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
Marseille returned to action after the World Cup break Thursday and hammered Toulouse 6-1 to climb to third in the Ligue 1 table. Marseille's third straight league win was secured with goals from Valentin Rongier, Rasmus Nicolaisen (OG), Sead Kolašinac, Dimitri Payet, Cengiz Ünder and Nuno Tavares.
PARIS - France striker Kylian Mbappé has shrugged off Argentina keeper Emiliano Martínez's taunts after the World Cup final, saying he did not "waste energy on such futile things" as he awaited the return of Paris Saint Germain teammate Lionel Messi.
Mbappé became the second player to score a World Cup final hat-trick as he dragged his country back into the match with a late second-half double and an extra-time penalty, which was still not enough as Argentina prevailed in a shootout.