Fans have flooded social media following Al-Nassr's demolition of Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, despite the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. The much-anticipated friendly between the two sides ultimately ended in disappointment for neutral fans, with Al-Nassr comfortably coming out on top with a 6-0 victory.
Following Inter Miami's narrow loss against Al-Hilal, many expected them to put in a challenging performance against the Knights of Najd. However, the American outfit were completely blown out of the water, conceding the first three goals in a matter of 12 minutes.
In the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Anderson Talisca stepped up his game, scoring a well-deserved hat-trick. Talisca even hit the Portuguese superstar's signature celebration move, rubbing salt in the wounds of Lionel Messi fans. With an impressive passing accuracy of 89% and a total of seven accurate long balls, Talisca capped off an all-round performance.
The Barcelona legend, meanwhile, started the match on the bench, only coming onto the pitch with seven minutes of regulation time left on the clock. As a result, Messi was unable to provide much impact in the game, with Miami having already conceded six prior to his introduction.
Fans were quick to call out a toothless Inter Miami side, completely dismissing the MLS outfit for their poor performance. One of the fans sympathized with Lionel Messi's plight, saying:
"Come back to Europe, Leo."
Another one seemed to take a shot at the Herons, saying:
"Dissolve this club immediately."
A humiliating defeat to Al-Nassr caps off a disastrous friendly season for Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, who remain winless this year. Aside from a 0-0 draw with minnows El Salvador, Tata Martino's men have lost all other games they've played in 2024, including defeats to FC Dallas and Al-Hilal.
Lionel Messi still leads the head-to-head game record against Cristiano Ronaldo
Despite receiving a thrashing at the hands of Al-Nassr, La Pulga fans can find solace in knowing that Lionel Messi still has a better head-to-head record against Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to games won. Disregarding exhibition matches, the two footballing legends have competed in 36 games against each other.
Out of the said total, Lionel Messi has managed to come out on top 16 times, with 11 games going Cristiano Ronaldo's way. The remaining nine matches have ended in stalemate, giving Messi the edge over his adversary when it comes to the overall record.
Nevertheless, the two come in close when it comes to goals scored in the said 36 matches. Lionel Messi manages to top Ronaldo once again, having netted 22 goals against the Real Madrid legend. On the other hand, Cristiano Ronaldo has a goal tally of 21 goals in matches played against his fiercest rival of all time.