Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi was making headlines all over the world ahead of Barcelona vs Juventus on Tuesday night.It's the first time that the two Ballon d'Or winners have met in more than two years with Ronaldo's move to Juventus from Real Madrid ending their annual clashes in El Clasico.With both players heading for the twilight years of their career, you never know when it will be the final time they share the pitch together, so this week's event really was something to savour.
Barcelona vs Juventus
Just the sight of Ronaldo and Messi shaking hands before kick-off, albeit in front of 99,000 empty seats at Camp Nou, was a sight to behold considering their legendary rivalry.
And it didn't take long for the clash in Champions League Group H to revolve around the two superstars with Ronaldo making his imprint on the game clear early on.
In fact, Ronaldo scored for the very first time against the Blaugrana in Europe's premier competition after winning and scoring a controversial penalty.
Ronaldo scores twice
The Portugal international looked to have gone down very easily under a challenge from Ronald Araújo that seemed so inconsequential that Marc-Andre ter Stegen prepared to take a goal-kick.
But given as a penalty it was with VAR deciding that the referee hadn't made a clear and obvious error, allowing Ronaldo to step up from 12 yards and smash the ball down the middle.
Barcelona 0-3 Juventus
The right decision or way too soft? Either way, it didn't seem to make a difference on the result as Juventus opened their stride on the way to a 3-0 victory to unexpectedly top the group.
Weston McKennie doubled the advantage with a fantastic volley, before Ronaldo bagged another goal of his own from the penalty spot and Leonardo Bonucci even had a fourth strike chalked off.
It was, truth be told, the sort of European disappointment that Barcelona have become used to stomaching recently - and most certainly meant that Ronaldo got the better of his eternal rival.
Ronaldo tackles Messi
In fact, regardless of the result, that looked to be the case during an unexpected meeting between the two players around the Juve penalty area with Ronaldo actually dispossessing Messi.
Yes, you read that right and what makes this head-to-head moment all the more appetising is the fact Ronaldo managed to steal the ball just seconds after Messi had nutmegged Bonucci.
Ronaldo might have had the advantage of being a few strides clear of his Ballon d'Or-winning rival, but he still managed to deal with the superstar far better than his teammate - check it out:
Messi gets his revenge
You'd think that Ronaldo and Messi coming together in a game would be pretty rare when you consider their positions, but that wasn't their only clash - and there was even a chance for revenge.
That's because Messi left the Juventus forward tackling thin air - well, aside from a little nibble of shin - when he next attempted a one-on-one dribble, which you can check out down below:
So, if this really is the last time that Messi and Ronaldo lock horns on the same football pitch then at least we had the privilege of seeing them spreading their magic within a few inches of each other.
That, and knowing Ronaldo's elite mentality, I'm sure he'll be boasting about dispossessing Messi, no matter how luckily, deep into the night with his Juventus comrades.