A preseason game in Saudi Arabia hyped worldwide as a showdown between legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo turned into a nightmare for Inter Miami on Thursday.

Messi spent the first 82 minutes of the match against Al Nassr on the bench as a precaution after he felt discomfort following Monday’s loss to Al Hilal. Inter Miami conceded three goals in the first 12 minutes and was humiliated 6-0 by the Saudi team.

The Argentine star came in for a cameo in the 83rd minute after Saudi fans at Kingdom Arena spent much of the game chanting his name. But it was a lost cause for Miami long before his entrance.

Despite its expensive star-studded roster, Inter Miami remains winless through four games of its seven-game preseason world tour and has been outscored 11-3.

Messi felt a twinge after Monday’s game, tried to train on Wednesday, but still had slight discomfort, so he underwent an MRI, according to a club source. As a precaution, based on the test results and how he felt, the coaches and medical staff planned to give the Argentine star a few days to recover.

He was expected to be left off the roster for Thursday’s game, but instead was on the bench.

Ronaldo watched the entire match from a suite due to a calf injury that led to Al Nassr cancel two games in China last week. TV cameras cut away to Ronaldo and Messi during the first half and the Portuguese star was smirking while his Argentine archrival looked forlorn as his teammates struggled all over the field.

Brazilian player Anderson Talisca scored a hat trick for Al Nassr. His first goal came in the 10th minute. His second was a penalty kick in the 51st minute, and his third goal was in the 73rd. Otavio opened the scoring for the Saudi’s with a third-minute goal. Aymeric Laporte scored in the 12th and Mohammed Khalil Marran in the 68th.

With each Al Nassr goal, the criticism from Inter Miami fans on social media grew more harsh.

Al Nassr outshot Miami 21-12 and had 14 shots on goal while Miami had just three.

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