In the 2023 Leagues Cup group stage, in his Inter Miami debut on July 27, Messi entered the field in the 54th minute and scored a superb free kick in the fourth minute of stoppage time to seal a 2-1 victory over Cruz Azul. In the next match against Atlanta United, the Argentine star contributed two goals and one assist to help Inter Miami win 4-0.

In the round of 16 against Orlando City, Messi scored his second consecutive double to help Inter Miami win 3-1. He then continued to shine with two masterpieces, including a long-range shot to open the scoring, then a free kick to equalize 4-4, and then successfully kicked the first penalty to help Inter Miami beat Dallas 5-3. In the quarterfinals, Messi and his teammates will meet Charlotte at 7:30 a.m. on July 12, Hanoi time.

After just four games, Messi has risen to fourth place in Inter Miami's all-time scoring list with seven goals, behind Gonzalo Higuain (29 goals), Leonardo Campana (16 goals) and Robert Taylor (8 goals).

Meanwhile, Ronaldo scored 18 goals in 24 matches for Al Nassr. The Portuguese striker joined Al Nassr in January 2023, scoring 14 goals in 19 matches at the end of the 2022-2023 season, but did not win any titles. Al Nassr finished second in the Saudi Pro League, losing in the semi-finals of the King's Cup and the Saudi Arabian Super Cup.

Ronaldo has started the new season with four goals in five matches in the Arab Club Champions Cup. Most recently, he scored a penalty to help Al Nassr beat Al Shorta 1-0 in the semi-finals, and will face Al Hilal in the title match on August 12.

In addition to the chance to win his first title in Saudi Arabia, the 38-year-old striker is also in line to win the Golden Boot. While Ronaldo has four goals, Al Hilal's top scorers are Salem Al-Dawsari, Malcom and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic with two goals each.

Last month, Ronaldo claimed that the Saudi Pro League was a better league than the MLS, where Messi recently moved. But the Opta Power Ranking shows otherwise. The average rating of MLS clubs is 73.2, higher than the average of Saudi Pro League teams at 70. In all the top leagues in the world, MLS is currently ranked 29th, while the Saudi Pro League is ranked 36th.

MLS is a much more evenly matched league than the Saudi Pro League in terms of team quality according to Opta Power Rankings . Three of the top four clubs in both leagues are from the Saudi Pro League (Al Ittihad, Al Hilal, Al Nassr) and only one is from MLS (Philadelphia Union), but 13 of the bottom 14 clubs in both leagues are in Saudi Arabia.

However, Inter Miami's index is far behind Al Nassr. Specifically, Inter Miami has an index of 72.8 and is ranked 503rd in the world club ranking updated by Opta on August 9. In seven days, Messi's new club has risen 276 places due to consecutive victories at the 2023 Leagues Cup. Meanwhile, Al Nassr has an index of 77.7 and is ranked 220th in the world.

Inter Miami was founded in 2018 and will compete from 2020.

Hong Duy