Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are household names, Galácticos of the modern game even, but following years of teammates that have been deployed around the two forwards, only two players have the luxury of saying they played with both at club level.
Gerard Piqué had the pleasure of lining up alongside a young Ronaldo during his brief career at Manchester United between 2004 and 2008, before re-joining his boyhood club Barcelona for a now bargain £5m.
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The 31-year-old regularly shares the pitch with Lionel Messi since establishing himself as one of the world's best defenders.
Sweden's Henrik Larsson joined Manchester United on loan from Helsingborg in 2007 during Ronaldo's best season for the Red Devils when he scored 42 goals.
The former Celtic star featured with Messi between 2004 and 2006, at the beginning of the Argentines glistening career.
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A likely explanation for this is that since Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2009 both players have remained at their respective clubs ever since, until CR7s recent move to Juventus, and that it is rare for players to transfer between the two rivals.
Only a handful of players have dared cross between Barcelona and Real Madrid including Michael Laudrup, Luis Enrique, Gheorghe Hagi, Brazilian Ronaldo and Luis Figo.
11 other players have played with both at a club and international level:
(Dybala is yet to play alongside Ronaldo, but will do this season at Juventus)
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·Gabriel Heinze [Man Utd - Argentina]
·Carlos Tevez [Man Utd - Argentina]
·Ezequiel Garay [Real Madrid - Argentina]
·Fernando Gago [Real Madrid - Argentina]
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·Gonzalo Higuaín [Real Madrid - Argentina]
·Ángel Di María [Real Madrid - Argentina]
·Paulo Dybala [Juventus - Argentina]
·Deco [Barcelona - Portugal]
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·André Gomes [Barcelona - Portugal]
·Nélson Semedo [Barcelona - Portugal]
Words by George Buksmann.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, La Liga
