For anyone wondering to what extent the very presence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had on each other’s performance the answer will be coming up very shortly.
It’s difficult to conceive of one of the greatest ever sports rivalries in the past tense but there’s a new reality now that Ronaldo has left Real Madrid for a new challenge at Juventus.
The football world will never be the same again; he’s not retired but any match between Juventus and Barcelona involving Ronaldo and Messi will never come close to having that same kind of spice that their Clasico meetings have had down throughout the years.