Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will finally face each other again on Thursday, January 19. The rivalry between the two footballing giants will be revived albeit only for a friendly match.

Paris Saint-Germain is embarking on a small tour of the Middle East which will take them to Qatar and Saudi Arabia this week. One of the highlights of the tour is a friendly match against an all-star team from two of Saudi Arabia's top clubs, Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal.

Ronaldo signed for Al-Nassr in a mega-deal on New Year's Eve, but he has yet to make a competitive debut for the club. He had to serve a two-game ban that was handed to him by the English Football Association. It comes after the conclusion of the investigation over an incident where he slammed an Everton fan's phone to the ground on the way to the tunnel at Goodison Park.

Al-Nassr also went over their quota for foreign players, and had to iron out the kinks before finally being allowed to hand the Portuguese star his debut.

Nevertheless, he will be allowed to play on Thursday against PSG and according to Marca, he will even be given the captain's armband.

It will be a massive treat for fans in Saudi Arabi who have been filling stadiums since the start of the year in the hopes of witnessing Ronaldo in action. Now, they will even see him go up against his eternal rival, Lionel Messi. The Argentine has rejoined the PSG squad after taking his national team to World Cup glory just a few weeks ago in Qatar.

Football fever is high in the Middle East and this clash of the Titans is a sign of what is yet to come from the region.

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Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have had a long standing rivalry. Josep LAGO/AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi