Fans react as Al Nassr confirms Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence in the much-anticipated game against Inter Miami

The rivals were set to play against each other, but their last dance won't happen due to an injury to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fans react as Al Nassr confirms Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence in the much-anticipated game against Inter Miami

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will not be facing each other due to Ronaldo's injury (Image via Sportico and Eurosport)

On 10th January, the Riyadh Season Cup was announced. The teams included Al Hilal, Inter Miami, and Al Nassr were the teams involved in the tournament. Although it was just a pre-season friendly tournament, fans were hyped as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were going to face off against each other. 

Last playing in a friendly over a year ago in a pre-season friendly between Al Nassr and Paris Saint Germain, fans were highly entertained. Hoping the two would face each other again, many fans were excited with the announcement of the Season Cup. Unfortunately,  their last dance against each other is now a distant dream. 

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While Messi is in Saudi Arabia, playing in the tournament, Ronaldo is recovering from an injury to his left calf. Due to his injury, the club had to postpone their trip to China, where they were scheduled to face Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang FC in friendlies. 

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We will not see [Messi vs Ronaldo], Ronaldo is in the final part of his recovery to join the group. We hope that in the next few days he can start working with the team. He will be absent from the game.
Luis Castro on Cristiano Ronaldo’s avaibility

The two were supposed to face off on the night of 1st February, but now Messi will face a Ronaldo-less Al Nassr. Inter Miami has already lost the first game of the tournament against Al-Hilal, where the Argentinian had scored in a 4-3 loss. 

Fans mock Cristiano Ronaldo for “being scared of Messi” 

When the news broke out of Cristiano Ronaldo missing out on the match due to his injury, there were a variety of reactions from fans. The Messi fans joked that the Real Madrid legend was scared to face his rival. Meanwhile, the Ronaldo fans claimed he was not interested in wasting his energy to face the Argentine. 

Lionel Messi Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo last played against each other on 21st January in a friendly (Image via Koha Ditore)

Some fans were more serious based on their reactions, saying they were bummed and unhappy to see the two not facing each other. One said their rivalry was not supposed to end that way, hoping for a future interaction between the two. 

Check out their reactions below:

Al Nassr and Inter Miami will play each other on the night of 1st February. The match will be played in the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, which already hosted Al Hilal’s match with Inter Miami. 

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