Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, two of the greatest footballers of all time, have defined the world of football for the last 20 years.
While the two have said they have mutual respect for one another, there will always be some animosity between them. At least that’s the case on Ronaldo’s end, as he has repeatedly mentioned Messi unprovoked and tried to downplay Messi at various opportunities.
The animosity was evident this weekend as well, as Messi’s name was used to mock Ronaldo, and the Portuguese lost it on the field.
Al Nassr, the league leaders, were playing the chasers Al-Ahli in a top-of-the-table clash in the Saudi Pro League. However, it was a bad night at the office for Ronaldo and co. as the unbeaten Al Nassr were handed their first league defeat of the season thanks to Ivan Toney’s brace and Merih Demiral’s winner.
It was a fiery clash as tempers flared throughout the game, especially during injury time, as both Al Nassr and Al-Ahli had a man sent off, and things only escalated after the full-time whistle.
Ronaldo, who was frustrated throughout the 90 minutes, had to endure another moment of controversy as Rui Pedro Braz, the Sporting Director of Al-Ahli, ran onto the pitch, sprinted past Ronaldo, and brushed Joao Felix’s arm as he hugged the Al-Ahli goalkeeper amid the celebrations.
This brought out an agitated reaction from Ronaldo and Felix, with online clips on Football Twitter claiming Braz was chanting Messi’s name as he ran past Ronaldo.
Ronaldo was seen pointing towards Braz and walking in his direction as he muttered something, while Felix was seen confronting and pushing him while repeatedly removing Braz’s hand as the Sporting Director kept trying for a cordial handshake.
Some fans are interpreting Ronaldo’s agitated body language as a heat-of-the-moment response to the taunting after the defeat, while others are convinced Ronaldo reacted that way due to Messi’s name being mentioned.
An Al Ahli team staff ran past Ronaldo & Felix and shouted “Messi” and Ronaldo went to confront him 😂😂😂😂😭😭😭pic.twitter.com/WhrtTSGjtu
— ?🐐🐐 (@psg_chief) January 2, 2026
Braz has previously worked as the Technical Secretary at Benfica Futsal and spent over 10 years as a sports analyst and commentator.
His first major role came in 2021 when he was made the Sporting Director of Benfica before he joined Al-Ahli last year.
Interestingly, it wouldn’t make sense for Rui Pedro Braz, who is also Portuguese, to mock his national team’s captain by summoning Messi’s name and immediately becoming a disliked figure in Portugal.
After the game, Rui Pedro Braz took to Instagram to set the record straight by giving an explanation of what happened and apologizing to Ronaldo and Felix.
Rui Pedro Braz claims that his intention wasn’t to mock Ronaldo and Felix. Instead, he was just running towards the goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi to celebrate and show his support after he dropped a howler in the first half and let a shot from distance roll between his legs.
Braz apologized for the misunderstanding and reiterated that his actions didn’t come from a place of malice. He also mentioned his respect and admiration for both Ronaldo and Felix while congratulating Al Nassr on the amazing season so far and wishing them luck for the future.
With the loss, Al Nassr has opened the door for 2nd placed Al-Hilal, who are just 2 points behind with one game in hand, to leapfrog them to the top of the table.
