If history ultimately judges the finest talents by their achievements on the international stage, where neither player has tasted success, then the Portuguese captain could use Sunday's Euro 2016 final to land a haymaker blow in one of football's great rivalries.
Here is a summary of stories from the English Premier League
The South American trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez reached a scorching 108 goals for the season following the La Liga leaders' 8-0 destruction of Cordoba on Saturday but the team's defence is yet to dispel doubts
Athletic Bilbao have proudly resisted pressure to abandon their policy of only recruiting players of Basque origin, making it all the more impressive that they are the club standing between Barcelona and a record-extending 27th King's Cup.
Messi, who has struggled for form in recent weeks due to a niggling injury, looked on a mission to grab the winner and after twice coming close he completed his treble to put Barca ahead in the 85th minute, reacting quickly to a poor Sevilla clearance to dink the ball over goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
Real Madrid can bury Atletico's hopes of winning La Liga with a third straight victory against their city neighbours on Sunday that would leave the capital's second club trailing by six points.
Atletico Madrid's players are hoping coach Diego Simeone can become the club's equivalent of Alex Ferguson.
Five players to watch during the 2016 Major League Soccer season, which opens on Sunday.
News of all that transpired on and off the field.
Factbox on Dutchman Louis van Gaal who left his job as Manchester United manager on Monday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A round of Saturday's matches in Series A, La Liga and Bundesliga.
Aseem Chhabra introduces us to the best of Berlinale.
'The World Cup is being played in the football crazy country after 64 years and nothing excites the Brazilians more than the sacred game,' says B S Prakash, India's former ambassador to Brazil.
From the FIFA World Cup finals to the spot-fixing scandals that rocked Indian cricket, we pick the key sporting events on the 2014 calendar.
Uruguay sealed their spot at the 2014 World Cup finals after a goalless draw at home to Jordan in the second leg of their intercontinental playoff on Wednesday saw them advance 5-0 on aggregate.
Radamel Falcao's hopes of playing at the World Cup finals hung by a thread on Thursday after his Ligue 1 club Monaco announced the Colombia striker required surgery on a left knee injury.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Rediff.com brings the latest news on English Premier League, results, and transfers around the world of soccer.
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick as coach Pep Guardiola maintained his 100 per cent record at the club with a commanding 4-0 victory against Borussia Moenchengladbach in their rearranged Champions League Group C opener on Wednesday.
Clubbed in a veritable group of death for next year's World Cup, Australia believe they can spring a surprise while fellow Asian qualifiers Japan, South Korea and Iran were more cautious with their optimism despite being dealt kinder draws.
Anyone who has watched the Argentine in recent years knows he can do things with a football that seem to defy the laws of physics and he does not fit into the mould of a traditional striker.
England's World Cup 2018 team, and remarkable similarities emerge between the XI expected to start the semi-final against Croatia
Lionel Messi has been included in Barcelona's squad for Wednesday's Spanish Super Cup second leg at home to Atletico Madrid after recovering from a thigh problem sustained in last week's 1-1 first-leg draw at the Calderon.
The former Paris St Germain manager will be presented on Wednesday and will replace Jose Mourinho who left at the end of last season to join Chelsea.
Following Angel Di Maria's nightmare stint, Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com says the 'Theatre of Dreams' has never been a happy a hunting ground for players from the continent
World champions Germany drew 1-1 with Spain in a high tempo friendly on Friday as they launched their preparations for a title defence in Russia while their opponents had striker Diego Costa making his long-awaited comeback as a substitute.
Manchester United consolidated their fourth place, on 22 points, after first-half goals from Chris Smalling and Wayne Rooney and a brilliant, morale-boosting strike from Robin van Persie after the break sealed a 3-0 victory over Hull City.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney did not have the faintest idea who Anthony Martial was when the Monaco forward was linked with a move to Old Trafford earlier this week, according to team mate Morgan Schneiderlin.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made a stunning entry into the top 10 list of Twitter users with a vast following, rocketing to the #2 spot.
As the curtain comes down on 2014, here's a look at the five best performances over the last 12 months. And, guess what? Two Indian sportsmen figure in the list!
Here is the round-up of all the football action across Europe on the weekend
Making their first appearance in the WTA Finals in Singapore, Sania Mirza and Cara Black outplayed Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears in their opening match to book their semi-finals berth on Thursday.
US Open champions Marin Cilic and Serena Williams kicked off their China Open campaigns with straight sets victories against battling underdogs on Monday, but Rafael Nadal suffered defeat in a rare doubles outing on his return from injury.
Photos from the Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday.
'The year in pictures' treks across the globe, looking back on the moments that shaped 2016. From the United States presidential race, to demonetisation in India to the refugee crisis, the news has kept pouring in. Here are our top 50 moments from the world.
A friendly working environment, special healthcare facilities, flexible work hours, work from home options, support and camaraderie among the team members keep employees highly motivated in these 10 companies.
