Despite what their mystical brilliance and defiant magic may suggest, the day will come when Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will have to pack and hang up their boots.
Pai Tempo, unfortunately, is the only opponent that Ronaldo and Messi will not be able to overcome and jump forever.
But at least now, as they approach the twilight of their careers, we can begin to truly appreciate the luck of witnessing these two unique talents in the same era.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had games to forget in the Champions League this week
Ronaldo and Messi have been fighting to be the best player for over a decade
His constant struggle to be the greatest player in the game throughout his careers has been a fascinating and inspiring spectacle – and it is still happening.
Ronaldo is 36 years old now and only has a few more years, maybe four at the most. And who said he will maintain those elite performance levels until the final game. At the end of the day, he is only human.
Messi is three years younger, but it is perfectly conceivable that he left before Ronaldo.
They remain winners of brilliant matches, but with more bad days at the office than before. You could argue until the cows come back to find out who has the advantage, but something that is easier to agree on is that Ronaldo and Messi are no longer the only ones in the spotlight.
They have company now.
There is a new generation of emerging protégés who are making their own name and appear to be the perfect heirs to the throne shared by Ronaldo and Messi.
And none other than Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain and Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund, who seem to have all the marks to become football’s newest big rivalry.
Haaland even admitted that Mbappe’s heroism three goals against Barcelona gave him extra motivation to score more goals.
Kylian Mbappe (left) and Erling Haaland (right) appear to become his successors and the newest major football rivalry
The SofaScore graph shows that the two strikers are catching up with Messi and Ronaldo
“I love the Champions League and yesterday when I saw Mbappe do the hat-trick, I was motivated, so thanks to him,” he said on Wednesday night after Dortmund’s victory in Seville.
‘He scored some goals and I got a good boost from him. Basing yourself on the success of others for your own inspiration sounds terribly like something out of Ronaldo’s book, doesn’t it?
The rise of Mbappe and Haaland was not overnight, they have caught up with Ronaldo and Messi for the past two years, and this week The Champions League results were a great indication that the process of changing the guard could already be underway.
The Spanish press dubbed Barcelona’s confrontation with PSG in the battle between Messi and Mbappe. At the end of Tuesday night, there was only one clear winner.
Mbappe, 22, consolidated his reputation as one of the best players in the world – not to mention the prospects – by scoring a famous hat-trick.
Messi, who had been completely blinded, could only watch while each goal was dispatched with a familiar cruelty, which had escaped him that night.
Mbappe ran rings around Barcelona and completely overshadowed Messi in PSG’s 4-1 victory
Haaland, who scored twice in a 3-2 win against Sevilla, admitted that Mbappe’s treble motivated him
Although these Champions League humiliations have become a worrying trend in recent seasons for Barcelona, Messi has never faced the kind of scrutiny he is facing now.
He was accused of appearing “disinterested” in the 4-1 defeat, while his power to rescue Barcelona appears to have disappeared.
Ronaldo and Juventus also found themselves in trouble after losing 2-1 to Porto in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
The Portugal striker played the entire 90 minutes, but failed to make a significant contribution to the game.
If Barcelona and Juventus suffer a fall, it will be the first time since 2005 that Messi and Ronaldo have not advanced to the quarter-finals or later.
Mbappe appears to be sailing with PSG, while Haaland put Dortmund on the verge of advancing after drawing two goals in a 3-2 win in Seville.
Ronaldo still has an elite performance at 36, but will probably retire in the next four years
For the first time in his career, Messi is facing serious scrutiny despite his impressive numbers
It’s only a matter of time before the spotlight turns to Mbappe (2nd left) and Haaland (center)
There seems to be some significance to that. It was not just this season that Mbappe and Haaland overcame Messi and Ronaldo in European competition.
Since last season in the Champions League, Mbappe and Haaland have scored 28 goals together – 13 more than Messi and Ronaldo, who have 15.
In all competitions this season, it is Haaland who scored the most goals in all competitions – but only narrowly – with 25 goals in 24 games compared to Ronaldo 23 in 27, Messi 20 in 29 and Mbappe 21 in 29.
The numbers show that Ronaldo and Messi have not lost their magic yet, but that Mbappe and Haaland are behind them.
It is only a matter of time before they intertwine in the next battle for supremacy, when Ronaldo and Messi walk towards sunset.
And the first indications are that it will be another long and special race, like that of Ronaldo and Messi during all these years.