Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo is eyeing a first Champions League goal against his rival Lionel Messi as the two players prepare to face each other on Tuesday evening. Barcelona skipper Messi and Ronaldo are undoubtedly regarded as the top two best players of their generation. The two football superstars have enjoyed a great rivalry for over a decade dating back to the 2006/07 season.
Their rivalry started when Ronaldo was a Manchester United and it continued when he left the Red Devils to join Real Madrid in a then world-record deal worth £80m in 2008. Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid shortly after helping Manchester United to the Champions League title. He has not faced Messi since leaving Real Madrid for Italian football in 2018. The main reason why Juventus brought him to Italian football two years ago was to win the Champions League title for the club for the first time in over two decades but he has not been able to achieve this target.
The present season might be the time that Cristiano Ronaldo delivers the much coveted trophy since he moved to Italian football. Ronaldo and Juventus still have top spot in their sights in Group G ahead of their trip to face hosts Barcelona at the Nou Camp later this week. Juventus will need to better the result from their first meeting this season to take top spot ahead of Barcelona. Cristiano Ronaldo missed that first meeting after testing positive to Covid-19 and he was sorely missed as Juventus were beaten 2-0 at home by Barcelona with Messi netting a late penalty to seal the result. OusmaneDembele gave Barcelona the lead in the first half.
Ronaldo is yet to score against Messi in the Champions League, while the little Argentine genius has three goals in five appearances against his rival. In total, they have met 33 times with Messi leading in victory terms. He has 15 wins, while Ronaldo has nine victories.