SUMMARY
- The UEFA Champions League account recently posted Neymar Jr. and Cristiano Ronaldo's picture on Instagram.
- Under the comment section Neymar Jr. left a sad emoji.
Two global soccer stars, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr. have been performing at the highest level of the sport for more than 10 years and have earned a lot of respect from the soccer community. Although both of them never played together, they held a high amount of respect for one another.
Recently, the official UEFA Champions League account posted the two soccer stars’ picture on their Instagram account to which Neymar commented on the post, “a sad smile emoji.” The soccer community was taken aback by Neymar Jr.’s comment on the post.
Neymar replied to this Champions League post on Instagram: “🥲” pic.twitter.com/R5fu56nW6T
— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) February 2, 2024
However, both soccer stars play in the Saudi Pro League now and have left the European stage for quite some time. Cristiano Ronaldo plays for Al Nassr FC whereas Neymar Jr plays for Ronaldo’s arch-rivals Al Hilal FC in Saudi Arabia.
Neymar Jr. has been out with an ACL injury for quite some time and has been recovering from the setback he faced at the start of the 2023-24 season. As for Ronaldo, he has been performing extremely well in the Saudi Pro League and was the top goal scorer in 2023.
Neymar Jr. hails Cristiano Ronaldo on the influence he has had in the SPL
Superstar Neymar of Brazil acknowledged that Cristiano Ronaldo was a major factor in the Saudi Pro League’s transformation. Portuguese striker Ronaldo signed with Al Nassr, a team headquartered in Riyadh, in December 2022. At the beginning of the 2023–24 season, Neymar moved to Al Hilal FC after spending a total of six years at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
🗣️ Neymar Jr on Cristiano Ronaldo’s influence on the saudi league pic.twitter.com/cFIaVAsMI2
— L’’ (@lanrrrre) August 16, 2023
“I believe Cristiano Ronaldo started all of this and everybody called him ‘crazy’, and this and that. Today you see the league grow more and more,” Neymar Jr. said. It remains to be seen how Neymar will perform once he is back from the injury that he has suffered.
Cristiano Ronaldo praises Neymar Jr during his time at PSG
In 2019, Cristiano Ronaldo was playing for Juventus FC in the Italian League whereas his rival Neymar Jr. was playing with the French giants, PSG. Neymar was in the headlines back in 2019 where he was tipped to move back to his former club, FC Barcelona.
However, soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo felt otherwise and also praised Neymar Jr.’s skillset and capabilities as a soccer player. According to Pablo Polo and Sergio Fernandez of Marca, Ronaldo responded as follows when asked if he believed Neymar would rejoin Barcelona:
“The most important thing is that he does not have injuries because it is something that is happening to him a lot and he has to worry about it. I worry because I like [watching] the boy playing”
– Cristiano Ronaldo on Neymar pic.twitter.com/yawgCbrDzb
— zaaz (@z_reyal) November 26, 2023
“I don’t know. He’s a great player, and I get on well with him. We’ve worked together recently [for advertising campaigns]. But there’s a lot of talk about him for [Real] Madrid, Barcelona and Juve. I like to see him playing and regardless of where he is, taking care of himself and avoiding injuries. That’s what I want for him.”
After 4 long years, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr are playing outside of Europe in the same country but for different clubs as usual. It remains to be seen how they both fair in the remainder of the 2023-24 season with their respective clubs.