BARCELONA: Cristiano Ronaldo has made his claim. Now he has to live up to it.
Ronaldo will face Lionel Messi tomorrow for the first time since the Portugal forward declared himself “the best player in the history” of football after equaling the Argentine’s five Ballon d’Or awards this month.
Basking in the spotlight of a glitzy ceremony under the Eiffel Tower, Ronaldo felt confident enough to put himself at the pinnacle of the sport, ahead of Messi and other greats like Pele and Diego Maradona.
“You will go and say that I have a big head, but when you’re at the top, it’s normal that you’re criticized,” he told France Football. “I am the best player in history, in both good and bad times.”
Personalities aside, Ronaldo has a tough case to make.
He and Messi both have four Champions League titles, but Messi’s eight Spanish league titles double Ronaldo’s tally for Madrid and Manchester United.
Messi also has the edge in their head-to-head duels. Messi has outscored Ronaldo 19-17 since Ronaldo joined Madrid in 2009. Before that, Messi scored in a 2-0 win over Ronaldo’s Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final.
The Barcelona-led Messi have also had a clear advantage over Ronaldo’s Madrid. Messi has helped Barcelona beat Ronaldo’s side 13 times, to eight wins for Madrid and seven draws.
Overall, Messi holds the “clasico” record with 24 goals in 36 matches. Ronaldo is one goal shy of matching Madrid great Alfredo Di Stefano’s 18 goals against Barcelona.
The camera-shy Messi insisted again this Monday when he was recognized for leading the Spanish league in goals last campaign that he put more value on team titles than individual honors.
“Titles are our goal,” Messi said. “If individual statistics are there also, that’s even better, but they are not the objective.”
Ronaldo has no doubt closed the gap with Messi after he led Madrid to back-to-back Champions League titles in the past two seasons. But for Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres, this past decade is still set to bear Messi’s mark.
“If it wasn’t for (Ronaldo), Messi would have won twice as much,” Torres said on Wednesday. “What Ronaldo has done in the age of Messi says a lot about him.”
Ronaldo will need to be at his best tomorrow because anything other than a victory will deal a huge blow to Madrid’s title defense before the season even reaches its midway point.
Real enter the match in fourth place and trailing Barcelona by a mammoth 11 with a match in hand. Atletico Madrid and Valencia are in second and third.
“Given the situation we are in we are obligated to win,” Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said.
Messi had one of his most memorable performances at Madrid last season when he scored his second of two brilliant goals in stoppage time to silence the Santiago Bernabeu.
Madrid got revenge with wins of 3-1 and 2-0 in the Spanish Super Cup in August, when Barcelona were reeling from the departure of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde, however, quickly rallied his team and the Catalan club have not lost since, a run of 24 matches. With Neymar gone, Valverde has succeeded in tightening up Barcelona’s defense.
“It would be important to win for everything that would represent, since the match is so special, and we are playing at their ground,” Messi said. “There would still be a long way to go for the league title, but a victory would be a nice before the Christmas break.”
Time for Cristiano Ronaldo to back up ‘greatest’ talk against Lionel Messi in ‘El Clasico’
Time for Cristiano Ronaldo to back up ‘greatest’ talk against Lionel Messi in ‘El Clasico’
Formula E heads to Jeddah for double-header, Evans looking to build on Miami momentum
- The night races in Saudi Arabia come with the drivers’ standings tightly contested, with the top five separated by just seven points after three rounds
JEDDAH: The FIA Formula E World Championship continues this week with the first double-header of the 2025/26 season, as Rounds 4 and 5 take place at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Feb. 13 and 14.
The night races in Saudi Arabia come with the drivers’ standings tightly contested, with the top five separated by just seven points after three rounds, while the highly anticipated Pit Boost feature also returns this weekend.
Pit Boost is a mandatory mid-race stop that provides cars with a 10 percent energy increase, adding a significant strategic element to selected races during double-header weekends.
Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans arrives in Jeddah fresh from victory in Miami and said the team is keen to build on its momentum.
“Getting the win in Miami was a huge boost, for me personally, of course, but for the whole team too. It was one of those races where everything just came together, and to take my 15th Formula E victory with Jaguar made it even more special,” he said.
“Now the attention shifts to Jeddah, which is a completely different challenge. We’ve shown we have the pace, and if we execute well across both races, there’s a big opportunity for us to really ride this momentum,” he added.
Porsche Formula E Team’s Nico Muller said the Jeddah E-Prix presents a unique challenge, particularly with the return of Pit Boost, which will be used in one of the two races.
“I’m excited for the Jeddah E-Prix, a night race is always special. It’s a cool track, it suits the GEN3 Evo (car) well,” he said.
“It’ll be the first Pit Boost race of the season, which will make things challenging, having two completely different races. It also makes preparation more intense because we’re preparing for two different scenarios.
“However, we have a strong base, the car and the team are performing well, and now it’s about optimizing our package for this track and the conditions. We have full focus on scoring points and chasing that victory,” he added.
The Jeddah E-Prix will once again be held under the lights, with cooler track and air temperatures expected to influence tire behavior and energy efficiency.
Off track, Formula E will also host the return of EVO Sessions, where global content creators will drive electric race cars at the circuit following the race weekend, with the event set to be streamed live on YouTube on Feb. 15.
The championship continues to promote sustainability and community engagement in Jeddah through initiatives focused on renewable energy use, waste reduction, education programs and inclusion, including support for young women in motorsport and local community partnerships.
