Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi chants in Saudi Arabia: What happened at Al Nassr game, Ronaldo's Instagram reaction

​​​​​​There are few rivalries in sport that have been spoken about as much as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's in football over the past couple of decades. 

Arguably the two greatest football players of all time who have enjoyed illustrious careers at the same moment, the pair have always been compared to one another. Their nine-year long direct fight in La Liga when playing for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively also saw the pair produce some of the most stunning individual campaigns in living memory. 

With Messi helping Argentina to win the World Cup in 2022, many critics and players, both past and present, saw that as ending the debate in his favour but it's that level of debate amongst media and fans that has largely propelled this rivalry, rather than Ronaldo and Messi themselves. 

That said, in the last week, that's changed slightly, especially on the side of Ronaldo who has publicly been at the forefront of fuelling the fire. 

 How many goals has Cristiano Ronaldo scored at Al Nassr this season? CR7 stats in Saudi Arabia in 2023-2024

On October 31, Al Nassr played Al-Ettifaq just one day after Messi lifted his record-breaking eighth Ballon d'Or award in Paris following on from a season that had seen the maestro help Argentina to win the World Cup. 

In the ensuing King Cup match in Saudi Arabia a day later, supporters of Steven Gerrard's side Ettihaq began to loudly chant 'Messi, Messi' throughout the match in an attempt to wind up his rival. 

The situation came to a head as Ronaldo came to the sideline to grab the ball to take a quick throw in as the crowd's chanting grew louder. After a few seconds, the Portuguese striker turned to the supporters and shushed them for the chanting. 

جماهير نادي الإتفاق تردد أسم