Dynamic duo of present football
Two names are more than familiar when it comes to present-day football in the world - Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and with good reason. They have won all the trophies they have vied for: 10 Ballon d'Or's, 10 Champion's Leagues and 12 La Liga titles, to name just a few.
But as we flip the leaves of the calendar, there is bound to be one with the day on which they decide to hang up their boots. But before that came Tuesday night, which was yet another milestone for Messi. He scored his 700th goal against Atletico Madrid when he converted from the dreaded spot. Incidentally, it was been against the same team that he had scored his 600th goal in 2018.
The main strike force of the Barcelona FC, the 33-year-old could not help his side garner full points (three) in La Liga, but his brilliance gave the world another reason to stand up and applaud this genius. Meanwhile, in Italy, another great and Messi's arch rival, Ronaldo of Juventus, scored a powerful rocket goal, which crashed to the farthest corner of the net. The 35-year-old Portuguese has scored 24 goals in 25 games in Serie A this season and is showing no signs of slowing down. And his 728 overall. Despite their dominance on the field, their careers have not been without flipsides in the last one year. Injury kept Messi on the bench for his club when the season opened. He missed four games in a row.
Messi does not hide anything from his fans, and he admitted to being tired and sluggish after the summer break. “I didn't have that spark. I was lacking a bit of rhythm." he told a section of the media at the start of the season. On the other side, Ronaldo too was ruled out of action so that he could not attend the annual FIFA best awards ceremony, as he was nursing a minor injury. So, when he finally made it to the field, his fans were surprised to see him, as he made a relatively slow start to his second season in Italy, scoring against Napoli and Hellas Verona in the first five games he played.
But the two made comebacks when it mattered the most and have been the live wires of their respective teams. They are better known as the pride of their teams and their opponents' envy.