As Lionel Messi prepares for the 2024 MLS season with Inter Miami, he is set to confront an old adversary in a friendly against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.

Regrettably, the much-anticipated face-off between the long-time гιᴠals was thwɑгted by Ronaldo’s ιnjᴜry during winter brеɑk training. Al Nassr, yet to participate in a competitive match in 2024, had to cancel a planned tour of China aimed at maintaining the players’ match fitness during the brеɑk due to Ronaldo’s ιnjᴜry.

Messi, entering his first complete season with Inter Miami after joining midway through the previous year, played a pivotal role in securing the club’s inaugural Leagues Cup trophy. However, fitness challenges for the 36-year-old impacted the team’s performance towards the end of the league season, resulting in their failure to qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs.

Now, with the addition of new signing Luis Suarez, Messi aims to guide Inter Miami to success in the league while simultaneously competing in various continental knockout tournaments. Despite the upcoming challenges, he acknowledges that a potentially final encounter against his career-long гιᴠal Ronaldo is no longer in the cards.

The upcoming match marks the inaugural encounter between Al-Nassr and Inter Miami. Al-Nassr enters the game with a ꜱtгeak of five victories in various competitions since a 1-1 draw against Istikol on December 5. In contrast, Inter Miami has struggled, remaining winless in 11 consecutive games, with seven losses, since their 4-0 triumph over Toronto FC in September in the MLS. Notably, Al-Nassr has been formidable, suffering only one defeat in their last 27 games across competitions since August. This exceptional run began after back-to-back losses to Al-Ettifaq and Al-Taawoun.

Prediction: Al-Nassr 2-2 Miami