Concerns over Ronaldo’s fitness ahead of Miami clash with Messi

Fitness and availability are the biggest concerns for Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nasr before the Saudi Pro League team takes on Inter Miami and Lionel Messi. Al Nasr’s coach recently canceled two friendlies in China due to Ronaldo’s absence. The club admitted that the majority of Chinese fans would have wanted to meet the Portuguese star. However, the club called off the match as a calf injury would prevent Ronaldo from playing.

Immediately, questions arose about Ronaldo’s position for the game against Inter Miami on February 1st. The importance of the match, which is also a friendly, centers on what could be the last time Ronaldo faces Lionel Messi, his long-time personal rival. The club had no intention of canceling Lionel Messi’s visit. Inter Miami also have a match scheduled against Al Hilal, with the Saudi Professional League leaders defeating the MLS side 4-3 on Monday, January 29th.

In any case, if Ronaldo is unable to play, the best part of Inter Miami’s match against Al Nasr will be gone. Fans will want to know if Cristiano Ronaldo is in full fitness before watching his team take on Inter Miami and, more importantly, Lionel Messi.

Monitor Ronaldo’s fitness before facing Messi and Inter Miami

To keep fans interested, Al Nasr’s coach has not publicly stated whether Ronaldo will be able to play. Unsurprisingly, reports from Saudi Arabia claim that Ronaldo is scheduled to play and is expected to return to training with Al Nasr. The Saudi club released a training video that featured Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the only footage of the Portuguese player was of him entering the training facility. There was no actual footage of Ronaldo participating in training. That may raise concerns about how well he can play Thursday.

Cristiano Ronaldo features prominently in Al Nasr’s other social media posts. It is possible that the club is doing this to build anticipation for the match by showing Cristiano Ronaldo wandering around the team. As such, expectations are rising for Ronaldo’s play. His absence without sufficient warning to fans will tarnish Al Nasr’s reputation at what could be a landmark moment for the league’s popularity.

The last match between two great players

All signs point to this being the last time Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will face each other as they approach the end of their careers. In total, they played 36 official matches and one more friendly match. In important matches, Messi remains at the top of the standings with 16 wins compared to Ronaldo’s 11. These matches include UEFA Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España matches and two international friendlies. In terms of goals, Messi maintains a narrow lead with 22 goals to Ronaldo’s 21.

But when they last met is not included in those statistics. It happened a year ago, when Messi, then playing for PSG, played against Al Nasr. Lionel Messi scored the first goal and Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice. PSG won the match 5-4.

Our picks: Includes: All regular season games, MLS Cup Playoffs, League Cup, and more
sign up

This match between Inter Miami and Al Nasr is available on MLS Season Pass. Thursday’s game kicks off at 1pm ET on Apple’s MLS Season Pass. The match will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Photo: Imago