The Saudi All-Star XI vs PSG match will take place in Riyadh this Thursday

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar on one side, Cristiano Ronaldo, Martínez and Marcelo Gallardo on the other. The epic friendly match that will be played this Thursday in Saudi Arabia promises, at least from the previous one.

The Saudi All-Star XI vs PSG match will take place in Riyadh at 8:00 pm local time, which means that the match will kick off at 10:30 pm according to Indian time (IST) Thursday 19th January.

The world champion's team has been touring Asia for the last few years thanks to its sponsor, Qatar Airways, and with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi football, things became relevant due to the presence on the field of Rosario and Portuguese.

CR7 will be the captain of the so-called Riyadh Season Team, made up of players from Al Nassr, a club that signed the Portuguese although he has not yet made his debut, and from Al Hilal, the most powerful team in Saudi Arabia, which is also led by Ramón Díaz.

Riyadh will have Marcelo Gallardo giving orders from the bank, who will reappear after separating from River at the end of last year. The Doll arrived in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the week and was received with honours, while a juicy contract awaits him for his participation. He was received at the airport by businessman Turki Al-Sheikh, Saudi minister and owner of the Spanish La Liga club Almería, according to the organization.

Gallardo will also meet again with Gonzalo "Pity" Martínez, led by him at the 2018 Libertadores champion River, while he will also have exciting Luciano Vietto (Al Hilal player) and attacker Salem Al-Dawsari, author of one of the goals of the historic victory of Saudi Arabia over Argentina in Qatar 2022, for example.

For PSG, the usual Parisian stars will play, where the trio made up of Neymar, Mbappé and Messi stand out. The squad will travel this Wednesday to Doha, Qatar, and then will leave for Saudi Arabia for the friendly.

In this way, Messi will return to Saudi Arabia, a country of which he was appointed tourist ambassador last year and amid rumours about a possible multimillion-dollar transfer of the Rosario -he has not yet renewed with PSG- to a club of the Arab monarchy, which It is also fighting to host the 2030 World Cup (together with Egypt and Greece), against the joint candidacy of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay.

The "Muñeco" Gallardo, former River Plate coach who will turn 47 this Wednesday, and the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo greeted each other in their first meeting, during training for the friendly match between the stars of the Saudi league and Paris Saint-Germain.

The photo of the greeting between Gallardo and Ronaldo, taken by businessman Turki Al-Sheikh, went around the world, went viral on social networks, and had many reactions, especially among River Plate fans.

Gallardo arrived in Saudi Arabia to direct the star team of the local league, led precisely by Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Argentine coach was chosen by the organization of the Riyadh Season Cup to lead the all-star team, a combination of the most important clubs in Saudi Arabia, which will face Messi, Neymar and Mbappé's PSG on Thursday.

The most-winning DT in the history of River was reunited with "Pity" Martínez, whom he directed at the Núñez club between 2015 and 2018, and was one of the heroes in the 2018 Copa Libertadores final won against Boca Juniors in Madrid Spain.

Both withdrew from training in full dialogue and with some laughs, in another example of the good relationship between DT and the former Hurricane.