Cristiano Ronaldo went first and seven hours later, Lionel Messi followed. Seven thousand miles, an ocean, a continent and a separate sea, during a wild Wednesday of football, the two greatest players in the history of the most popular sport in the world penetrated the semi-finals of the Champions League. They emerged tunnels and went on stage to strengthen their eminence.
Of course, it was the type of stage on which they had seduced the world and dowed for the throne of football. For a decade and a half, they lit the European Champions League with 141 and 129 goals, respectively, the Two best totals of all time. They raised OrejonaThe trophy, nine times combined. They spent days like Wednesday when they go into the football tradition, Milles away from the many mortals pursuing them.
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But this Wednesday, in Saudi Arabia and in southern Florida, at 40 and 37, Ronaldo and Messi collapse Asian and North American Champions League equivalents.
And between the two, while Ronaldo smoked and Messi expected, their successor made another statement.
In the Champions League that Ronaldo and Messi left Lamine Yamal at 17 Inter Milan in Bambou. and folded millions of mind worldwide.
During his 100th match for Barcelona, he scored his 22nd goal to go with 33 assists, and Messi's comparisons accelerated in overdrive.
Lamine Yamal, 17, famous after having marked against Inter Milan in a revolutionary performance. (Photo by Jose Breton / Pics Action / Nurphoto via Getty Images)
(Nurphoto via Getty Images)
At Yamal's age, Messi had marked once for Barcelona; Ronaldo had scored five times for the Portugal Sportif club.
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Messi only made his 100th appearance at the age of 20, and even then, with a multi -year advantage, his 54 goal contributions have now been exceeded by the child who is increasingly like the heir to his throne.
“I don't want to compare myself with anyone, even less with Messi,” Yamal said at a press conference on Tuesday filled, his first as a pro. But 24 hours later, he made comparisons inevitable. He left defenders in the dust and on the grass. He scored a superb goal.
He does things that no one has ever done. He is the best of 17 years in modern sport history. He is, right awayIn 2025 – with shiny dental hugs and blond hair inspired by a character from Dragon Ball Z – Probably the best football player. He regularly evokes the feeling that Messi made all these years ago, the feeling that we, those who had the chance to attend his ascent, looked at something that we will remember for the rest of our lives.
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And Wednesday, more than ever, than something I felt like a change of guard.
Ronaldo and Messi both give kicks. Ronaldo, now in Al Nassr, is the top scorer of the Saudi Pro League. Messi, now at Inter Miami, is the MVP MLS REGNANT. They remain the two most popular athletes on the planet.
But on Wednesday, they flicker.
Kawasaki front, a mid-table club in Japan, amazed Al Nassr in the ACL semi-finals, and left Ronaldo on the verge of tearsBoring her eyes in the ground, shrugging her shoulders, shaking her head, looking.
Seven hours later, the Whitecaps of Vancouver Passed in front of Inter Miami on the second floor of their semi-final of the Concacaf Champions Cup. Messi, in a 5-1 global defeat, pulled half a volley and floated with dynamic free kicks. He passes poorly placed. He couldn't get out of the bullets under his feet. For a fourth consecutive match against the opposition of the MLS, he delivered neither a goal nor a assist.
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More recently than last summer, he was undoubtedly still one player among the first five of world football. Ronaldo, who is two and a half years old, had more strongly refusedBut the two kept a peer -free swing, in part because No one had risen to claim their throne. Kyian Mbappé has flirt withbut Flop in the Champions Leagueand now has no doubt worsened Real Madrid. The golden ball of last year was one of the weakest of all time. The post-ronaldo-messi generation, if something has proven how remarkable these two megastares were-and are.
In recent months, however, the story has changed. A year ago, there was a feeling that Ronaldo and Messi could never be equaled; Now there is a teenager who could realistically exceed them. It has a long way to go, and many injuries to avoid, and many development leaps to make; But it is, in a word, ridiculous.
And Wednesday, while Ronaldo and Messi withdrew from the spotlights, in a period of 10 hours which felt both symbolic and significant, Yamal seized the one who, one day, could be just as brilliant and large.
