 
Messi and Ronaldo will renew their rivalry — AFP
PARIS:
Lionel Messi and Paris Saint-Germain will play a friendly against a select side made up of players from Cristiano Ronaldo´s new club Al Nassr and their Saudi rivals Al Hilal in Riyadh on January 19, the French champions announced on Monday.
Qatar-owned PSG will travel to Doha on January 17 before moving on to the Saudi capital for the match at the King Fahd Stadium which will see Messi and Ronaldo renew their rivalry.
Messi returned to training with PSG last week after being given a fortnight off following Argentina´s World Cup triumph in Qatar in December.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo, who will turn 38 in February, recently joined Al Nassr after agreeing on a contract that runs until 2025 and is reportedly worth more than 200 million euros ($214m).
His arrival at Al Nassr, which is coached by Frenchman Rudi Garcia, comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to improve the profile of football in the country ahead of a possible joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup along with Greece and Egypt. Ronaldo and Messi have dominated the sport for the past 15 years, winning the Ballon d'Or 12 times.
Their rivalry grew after playing each other for nine years in Spain when Messi played for Barcelona and Ronaldo played for Real Madrid.
Riyadh clubs Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr are his two most successful teams in Saudi Arabia.
PSG has made a habit of traveling to Qatar in the winter since the Gulf States purchased the club in 2011.
Even though Ligue 1's leaders have scheduled a French Cup clash with an as-yet-undecided opponent in the lower leagues for the weekend of 21-22 January, An expedition takes place.