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Messi signs with his first club Barcelona F.C
On December 14, 2000, Lionel Messi signed his first contract with Barcelona, he was 12 years old at the time and the contract was written up on a napkin at the Club de Tennis Pompeia cafeteria as the Camp Nou club rushed to tie the talented forward down. -
Ronaldo signs with Manchester United for the first time
Ronaldo's move to Manchester United was completed on 12 August 2003, too late for the 2003 FA Community Shield but in time for their game against Bolton Wanderers on the opening day of the 2003–04 season, and made him the first Portuguese player to sign for the club. -
Messi and Ronaldo play each other for the first time in the 2008 Champions League semi-final
Messi and Ronaldo played against each other for the first time on April 23, 2008 in a 0-0 draw between Barcelona and Manchester United in the Champions League semi-finals. -
Ronaldo wins first Ballon d’Or award with his first club Manchester United
His first win was in 2008, coming in ahead of Messi, who went on to win it four times in a row from 2009 to 2012. -
Ronaldo leaves Manchester United to sign with Real Madrid
There was no indication then that Cristiano was contemplating an exit - but that all changed on 11 June 2009 when United announced he had "expressed his desire to leave" and that Real Madrid's world record £80m offer had been accepted. Less than three weeks later, the transfer was concluded. -
Messi wins his first Ballon d’Or award for Barcelona
Messi picked up his first Ballon d’Or in 2009, the last time the traditional award was presented before it briefly merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year award. Messi polled 473 votes that year, more than double than the player in second place, Cristiano. In doing so, he became the first player to have come through the youth system at Barça and win the award. -
Messi leaves Barcelona after 21 years
“ A tearful Lionel Messi confirmed he was leaving Barcelona after 21 years at his farewell press conference on Sunday morning.” -The Athletic -
Ronaldo leaves Juventus to sign with Manchester United, returning to Manchester after 11 years
“Manchester United announced Friday that Ronaldo is heading back to the red side of Manchester over a decade after he left the club for Real Madrid. It comes after a whirlwind 24-hour period in which Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, met with Juventus’ management to express his client’s desire to leave Turin, then Ronaldo looked like he was heading to Manchester City only to see them pull out of the deal and Manchester United now bring back one of their most beloved players of this generation.”