Saudi Businessman pays whopping £2.2m to watch Ronaldo- Messi lock horns in a friendly match

Ahead of Saudi All-Star XI and PSG’s friendly match on Thursday, a Saudi businessman bought football’s most expensive ticket in history to watch Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi lock horns.

As per The Sun’s report, a VIP ticket was made available with the starting bid placed at £220,000 while Musharraf bin Ahmed Al-Ghamdi offered a whopping £2.2m and sealed the deal.

The ticket is said to be the most expensive in the history of soccer and it will give the businessman a chance to meet football stars Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and K Mbappe.

The VIP ticket was a part of a fundraising campaign launched by Turki Al-Sheikh, the head of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority in order to donate funds to Saudi Arabia’s Ehsan charity fund.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo captained the Saudi All-Star XI team which was a mixture of Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr players against French champions in their friendly match on Thursday.

Riyadh is where Ronaldo has decided to base possibly the final years of his storied career after signing a deal worth a reported $200 million a year to join Al Nassr.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals in his first game in Saudi Arabia

Ronaldo and Messi transported fans back in time to the heyday of their storied rivalry, as both forwards got on the scoresheet in an exhibition match on Thursday before Hugo Ekitike earned 10-man PSG a 5-4 win over the Riyadh Season Team. In an action-packed first half at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, goals from Messi and Marquinhos were cancelled out by a Ronaldo brace, while PSG’s Juan Bernat was sent off for a lunging tackle on Saudi international Salem Al-Dawsari.

Coming back to the match, Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals in his first game in Saudi Arabia since signing for Al Nassr leading the Saudi All-Star XI. However, PSG won 5-4, with both Lionel Messi – Ronaldo’s long-time rival – and Kylian Mbappe also on the scoresheet.

Messi scored in the first few minutes, Ronaldo won a penalty to equalise. The Portuguese would equalise again to even out Marquinhos’ goal, before PSG took control in the second, thanks to a Kylian Mbappe penalty. The Frenchman was, by far, the best player on the night.