Messi and Ronaldo hug each other before the game

The cameras, the eyes of the fans, the spotlights of Camp Nou, even the eyes of the players on the field. They were all looking at the same place in the match between Barcelona and Juventus in the Champions League: where the meeting between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo was going to take place.

Two historic rivals, two football stars who have reaped trophy after trophy and who have broken record after record by pushing each other over the years, finally coming face to face again on the pitch. An image that will go around the world.

Two and a half years they had to wait to be in the same match. Such an event was, of course, echoed in a report by ProFootballDB, BeSoccer's data laboratory, which outlined their historic duel.

Before the showdown began, Leo and Cristiano Ronaldo approached each other for a hug. They shook hands, exchanged a few words and smiled at each other on the grass, where they stood close by before the team's kick off.