The new edition of the UEFA Champions League is about to kick off, which corresponds to the 2023/24 season, but for all fans of the sport it will have a very special (and sad) peculiarity: it will be the past For the first time in 19 years, not even Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are on the books. Of course, this situation shows us, but does not make us realize that the careers of these two great stars of football are coming to an end and sooner or later we will not have the opportunity to enjoy them on the pitch.
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It will be the first time the Argentine star has missed one of the world’s most important club competitions since making his debut in Barcelona’s final group game against Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2004/2005 season. Since that match in Ukraine, Messi has successfully won the championship in the 2005/06, 2008/09, 2010/11 and 2014/15 seasons, while also scoring 129 goals and 40 Assists, leaving his mark in Ukrainian history. competition.
The Portuguese was recognized as “Mr. Champion” for his outstanding performance in this event, mainly because of his Real Madrid jersey, becoming the winningest team in the history of the Champions League. The current Al Nasr player is the all-time top scorer with 141 goals and the all-time top assister with 42 assists. He is also the player with the most appearances in the tournament with 187 assists. Although he has been successfully promoted 5 times, this was the case in the 2007-08 season, the 2013/14 season, the 2015/16 season, the 2016/17 season and the 2017/18 season.
Both have left their mark on the Champions League and it’s impossible to look back at the history of the competition without mentioning Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
Who can replace Messi and Ronaldo in this Champions League?
Although we all know that both are irreplaceable, the top names of this upcoming class are Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. The Norwegian has successfully lifted the trophy after becoming a key player for Manchester City, while the Frenchman has been eliminated by Orejona on several occasions, including in the final against Bayern Munich in Lisbon during the pandemic.