Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar greeted with flowers and music upon touchdown for £13m Paris Saint-Germain friendly against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Saudi Arabia all-stars
Paris Saint-Germain’s superstars have been warmly welcomed upon touch down in Saudi Arabia ahead of their friendly match against Cristiano Ronaldo’s all-star XI.
The French giants will face a combined XI from Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal, with the Portuguese superstar making his Saudi debut against his old foe Lionel Messi.
The match will pocket PSG a whopping €15million [£13m] , with Messi contractually obliged to play as part of the deal, along with forwards Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
It could well prove as somewhat of a distraction with PSG losing two of their last three Ligue 1 matches since returning from the World Cup, which has seen Lens and Marseille dramatically close the gap to the league leaders.
However, staff in Riyadh have done their best to make the French side feel welcome, with their players greeted from their private jet with bouquets of flowers and also flower necklaces.
There were also selfies all over the landing strip and music played as PSG arrived in town.
The friendly match kicks off at 5pm UK time, and could well be the 37th and final meeting between historic rivals Messi and Ronaldo.
Both all-time sporting greats are expected to start the match, with Ronaldo making his Saudi debut and PSG contractually obliged to field Messi.
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The game will take place at the King-Fahd International Stadium, with a 65,000 sell-out crowd expected to attend.
Last night, the same venue held the Italian Super Cup, in which Inter Milan beat AC Milan 3-0.
Speaking ahead of the match, PSG manager Christophe Galtier said: "It may not look like a friendly match and it will not be a training match.
“There are so many personalities and competitors on the field that we will have a good game."