have messi and ronaldo ever played against each other
At club level, Messi and Ronaldo represented rivals FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F., the two players facing each other at least twice every season in the world's most popular regular-season club game, El Clásico (among the most viewed annual sporting events), until Ronaldo's transfer to Italian club Juventus F.C. in 2018. Off the field, they are the face of two rival sportswear manufacturers, Messi of Adidas and Ronaldo of Nike, which are also the kit suppliers of their national teams and the opposite for their clubs. The two highest paid players in football, Ronaldo and Messi are among the world's best paid sports' stars in combined income from salaries, bonuses and off-field earnings. In 2016, Ronaldo was first on Forbes list of the best paid athletes, earning $88 million, with Messi being second at $81.4 million. They have the two biggest social media followings in the world among sportspeople with a combined 211 million Facebook fans, with Ronaldo having 122 million and Messi having 89 million. With a combined Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, Ronaldo has 321 million to be the most famous celebrity on social media and Messi has 181 million excluding Twitter.
Messi–Ronaldo rivalry