Once upon a time Messi vs Ronaldo. A challenge with a very high technical rate, at times even ferocious, made up of goals, hot declarations and many, many trophies, individual and otherwise. Today the Duel (strictly with a capital D) can be considered permanently archived, with the two phenomena a "winter" in soccer less than Usa e Saudi Arabia, obviously covered in money from head to toe. The last act was staged at the Qatar World Cup and it is useless to reiterate that it was won by Messi, so much so that CR7 did not even return to Europe, preferring to get on the first flight towards Al-Nassr. Now that the Argentine, fresh world champion and in contention for the Ballon d'Or (he would be the eighth), has also left the big stage to move to Miami, it's time to raise the curtain and enjoy the new soccer challenge world, i.e. the one between Mbappé e Haaland.
Mbappé vs Haaland: football is looking for its new king
Let's start right away by saying that Kylian and Erling are a lot different from their predecessors, as indeed it should be. To explain the sign of the times is enough look at the teams they play for, therefore the psg of Sheikh Al-Thani (Qatar) and the Manchester City of Mansour (Arab Emirates). Nothing to do with the poetry di Barcelona e Real Madrid and their century-old rivalry, football but above all political, but two armies built with petrodollars, which the nobility looks at with a mix of snobbery and envy. However, Mbappé and Haaland take care of dropping the prejudices about the "new rich", with their plays, followed by millions of fans all over the world.
Mbappé is ahead (also on social media), but Haaland has already won a Champions League…
Here the Frenchman has a clear advantage, boasting over 100 million followers on various social networks, against the "only" (so to speak...) 33 million of the Norwegian, but it is fair to remember that the former has been on the scene for much longer of the second, also thanks to the two extra years. Kylian he began his magic in 2017 with Monaco, before moving to Paris for the modest sum of €180m, which makes him look old despite being only 24 years old. Erling, on the other hand, followed a softer path, led by that great strategist Mino Raiola, who sent him on the hunt for "comfortable" goals first in Austria (Salzburg), then in Germany (Borussia Dortmund), all with a skilful release clause (60 million) which earned him a one-way ticket to Manchester City. It can be said that the challenge only started this year, with the two golden boys fighting on equal terms, at least in the clubs: Mbappé has one on his side National vastly more competitive, but Haaland, 23 years old next July 21, already has lifted a Champions League.
The two don't suffer that much, but football needs a new rivalry
The real peculiarity of this duel is that it feel especially the others. In fact, in addition to not playing in the same championship, they have never challenged each other even in words, as if they weren't interested in anything other than their respective numbers. After all, times have changed and if Messi and Ronaldo certainly didn't shine for dialectics (their interviews can be counted on the fingers of one hand), let alone the two of them, children of a modern era in which a post on social media is worth more than many words. But everyone likes Mbappé and Haaland: to traditionalists, who pale in front of the deluge of goals scored (41 in 43 games for the Frenchman, even 52 in 53 for the Norwegian) and to the younger ones, enchanted by the so-called skills that inflame YouTube and Instagram. The future could offer new scenarios especially because of Kylian, destined to leave Paris to go to Madrid (but last year too it seemed like that and then a multi-million dollar renewal came instead), while Erling has just arrived in Manchester and will stay there for several years.
Messi and CR7 at the end of the line: now the real challenge begins
La real fight, however, will only start from next season, when Messi e Ronaldo they will definitely be a memory: Ballon d'Ors will begin to rain down there, on both sides, and the public will only have to choose whether to side with the French native of Bondy (a banlieu present in the news of Paris every other day as well) or with the Norwegian, born in Leeds (his father played in the Premier League) but raised in the milder Bryne, a town of 8 inhabitants in the county of Rogaland. They will probably continue to care little about this rivalry built by others, aware that their sporting and economic glory does not necessarily need an enemy to defeat.
