A new week, a new edition of Messi-Ronaldo watch. And they've both been scoring. Here's what Messrs Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been up to this past week:
Football
Messi:
With now interim-head coach Guillermo Hoyos (Cristian 'Kily' González will take over next week) watching from the stands due to a suspension, Messi put on a masterclass to stop Inter Miami's horror winless streak, in some style, against CF Montreal.
When Fabian Herbers equalised after Casemiro's early opener, Miami fans might have feared yet another slide, but from the 40th minute on the Messi show blew Montreal away. It started innocuously enough, an on-target Messi freekick deflecting off a Montreal foot to go in and restore Miami's lead. In the second half, though, the great Argentine went up a gear (or three).
In the 52nd minute he picked up a tap back from Luis Suárez at the edge of the box, before dancing past (and through) Jalen Neal and the backtracking Harbers and then leaving Brayan Vera grasping at thin air with a shuffle. Once through the three defenders, he smashed it into the far bottom corner with his right. In the 80th minute, Messi clipped a first-time chip into Suarez's feet, and the striker made it 4-1 with a neat finish as he ran in behind one-on-one with the keeper.
Three minutes later, Messi made it five when he ran onto a neat through ball from Rodrigo de Paul before chipping the hapless Thomas Gillier in Montreal's goal. A long ranger from Alexander Shaw followed but Messi would get the final word in, when he curled a perfect freekick into the far corner to make it 7-1 in the 96th minute.
Four goals, an assist, and Messi had snapped Inter Miam's winless run. They remain second in the MLS Eastern Conference, behind Nashville.
Ronaldo:
Cristiano Ronaldo had an eventful week as Al Nassr continued their winning start to the season against Al Etiffaq in the midweek and Al Tawoun on Friday.
In the midweek fixture, Al Nassr had a horror start as goalkeeper Bento was sent off for a foul (outside the box) on Etiffaq forward Moussa Dembélé when the latter was through on goal one-on-one. The Saudi champions struggled to keep the home side at bay after that and goals from Ondrej Duda and Álvaro Medrán made it 2-0 to Al Ettifaq by half time. Sandwiched by those two goals, Ronaldo had a superb effort saved as he shot low and hard from the edge of the box.
Ronaldo stomped off the field in anger, gesticulating wildly, and wouldn't make the field for the second half as Ange Postecoglou subbed him off at half-time. The change seemed to work as Abdullah Al Khaibari, a central midfielder who came on in Ronaldo's stead, helped Al Nassr grab a foothold and a Sadio Mané brace helped them turn it around for a 3-2 win.
In their next match, Ronaldo was subbed off in the 80th minute but this time after he scored the winner. Trailing 1-0 to Bassam Al Hurayji's opener for Al Tawoun, Al Nassr equalised via Samú Costa deep into first half stoppage time. Ronaldo, who had a poor first half (missing a tap-in by inches in one instance), then made it 2-1 in the 50th minute.
Mohammed Simakan smashed a shot goalwards after a melee following an Al Nassr corner, and Ronaldo, standing on the shoulder of the defence, helped it on its way into the net with a flick of his right boot.
Al Nassr remain top of the league with four wins in four.
Life/Social Media
Messi:
Posted a poster for the Montreal match as a story on his Instagram, before then putting up a caption-less post after the win.
Ronaldo:
Nothing after the mid-week win. A post after the win on Friday
Three points. We keep going! ���� pic.twitter.com/giaGijDFLw
- Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) August 28, 2026
Words
(On) Messi:
"That's what it means to have Messi on the team," Casemiro told Apple TV after their big win. "We have to enjoy these moments because he is a person, a player that makes history."
"We saw today that we have to enjoy it, keep supporting and keep competing with him because he continues to be the best. He proved it in the World Cup. We have to enjoy it because, with him, we are so much stronger."
Meanwhile, interim coach Hoyos said, "He manifests himself now the same way he manifested himself at that age [when I met him]. The similarities are unbelievable, with his soccer abilities increased by all of his soccer knowledge. But he's really the same person, with the same soccer conditions that led him to grow and win everything. Honestly, I see something really surprising in him: permanent growth. Not only when he was that age. Today he's another age, and he keeps growing and getting bigger. There are no words."
(On) Ronaldo:
When asked about the halftime sub after their win over Al Ettifaq, Postecoglou said: "When I made the substitutions, including taking Ronaldo off, I believed the players coming on could make an impact. I came here to help the players, so as I said, I'm proud of them because every substitute made a positive contribution."
"I'm here to help the team with what I see, and everyone knows that Ronaldo hasn't played in a long time. He performed exceptionally well in the first half, and we opted for a different approach."
Stats:
This is the eighth time that Messi has scored 4 or more goals in a game at club level, and it's his first since 2020 for Barcelona vs Eibar.
This is Messi's third straight MLS season with 15+ goals and 10+ assists (1 goal, 2 assists in 6 games in debut campaign in 2023).
Messi is leading MLS' goalscoring charts with 18 goals. Dallas' Petar Musa is second with 16. He had started the weekend two behind Musa.
Lionel Messi is now the fastest player in MLS history to reach 20 multi-goal games in regular season play (72 games).
Goals and assists tracker
Messi: 927 goals, 421 assists (four goals and an assist added this week)
Ronaldo: 978 goals, 261 assists (one goal added this week)
