With Lionel Messi limited to a late substitute appearance and Cristiano Ronaldo watching from high up in the stands as his Al Nassr squad hammered Messi’s Inter Miami 6-0, Thursday’s highly anticipated matchup between football’s two biggest rivals fell short of expectations.

Due to a calf ιnjury, Ronaldo was ruled out, while Messi shocked Saudi Arabian supporters by waiting on the sidelines as the exhibition Riyadh Season Cup match got underway.

Head coach Luís Castro of the Saudi Pro League team announced on Wednesday that Ronaldo would not be able to play in the match due to a calf ailment. Meanwhile, rumors stated that Messi was left out of the starting lineup as a preventative measure against ιnjury.

Prior to kickoff, there was uncertainty regarding Messi’s inclusion in Miami’s roster because the MLS team published a team sheet on X, the previous Twitter platform, missing his nаme.

But that tweet was removed, and someone published a new team sheet with Messi on the bench. Before Messi made his appearance, the supporters in Riyadh had to wait until the 83rd minute, by which point Miami was already behind 6-0.

Al Nassr’s Brazilian striker Anderson Talisca scored a hat trιck, and Aymeric Laporte, a former Manchester City defender, scored from inside his own half. Other objectives for Al Nassr come from Mohammed Maran and Otavio.

Talisca did the SIU

The match, which took place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was advertised as the last club match between the two players who, during their time with Real Madrid and Barcelona, dominated European football for ten years.

36 times over the years, Messi and Ronaldo have squared off in club and national competitions. On 16 of those occasions, Messi’s teams have prevailed, while Ronaldo’s teams have won 11. On the remaining nine occasions, the sides have settled for draws. In those games, Ronaldo has 21 goals and one assist, while Messi has 22 goals and 11 assists.

As the Al Nassr goals poured in, Ronaldo, who has five Ballon d’Or victories to Messi’s eight, encouraged his team from the stands.

Prior to their match against Miami in Riyadh, Al Nassr had scheduled two games in China against Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang while the Saudi Pro League was on break.

However, on January 23, Ronaldo apologized to the people after Al Nassr’s country tour was canceled due to a calf ιnjury.

As part of their preseason trip, Inter Miami visited Saudi Arabia after losing 4-3 to Al Hilal on Monday. On February 4, they are scheduled to play a Hong Kong XI.