With Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both ignominously crashing out of the Champions League last-16 and Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland confidently marching on to the quarter-finals, the \u2018changing of the guard\u2019 narrative is again on the rise.<\/p>\n
Ronaldo and Messi are indisputably the two greatest players to have ever played the game but with both in their mid-thirties, it\u2019s only understandable their prowess are on the wane and unlike before when both were in their prime.<\/p>\n
What would happen without Ronaldo and Messi at the forefront when that day finally comes? While a much-dreaded thought in an earlier scenario, the emergence of rising young turks Haaland and Mbappe\u00a0has definitely brought a sense of relief pacifying the fears of football fans all over the world. Not that both Messi and Ronaldo won\u2019t be missed, of course.<\/p>\n
Very noticeably, Haaland and Mbappe are already starting to break records set by the two middle-aged superstars that have gone before them and also appear to have cultivated a little fascinating rivalry of their own, so it would appear that football is indeed undergoing a smooth transition and is in good hands.<\/p>\n
Mbappe scored four goals over two legs against Messi\u2019s Barcelona as Paris Saint-Germain triumphed 5-2 on aggregate. Just like in the 2018 World Cup, Mbappe apparently got the better of Messi – teams\u2019 strengths and weaknesses aside.<\/p>\n
However, the 22-year-old has shown absolutely no intention of rubbing it in Messi\u2019s face and has acted on the contrary in a show of respect to the older player when, on Thursday, he uploaded a touching Instagram message alongside an image of him and the Argentine.<\/p>\n
He wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks football to give me this opportunity to live this dream every day\u201d with him gazing at Messi.<\/p>\n
Really poignant and so beautiful a moment.<\/p>\n
While some football fans are claiming Mbappe and Haaland have already overtaken Messi and Ronaldo at the top table of European football, BT Sport pundit Owen Hargreaves suggests they have a long way to go still before this claim can hold weight.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s no denying Mbappe and Haaland are two of the best young players in the whole world, but the fact of the matter is Ronaldo and Messi have longevity on their side,” Hargreaves told BT Sport.<\/p>\n
“I know Mbappe and Haaland can\u2019t have that because they\u2019re only young and they\u2019re performing at a higher level, the numbers don\u2019t lie, but Ronaldo and Messi have done this for 15 years.<\/p>\n
“Until these guys do this for five years straight they can\u2019t even be in the conversation with those two, with the utmost respect. They are out-producing them, but Ronaldo\u2019s in a pretty poor Juventus team, Messi\u2019s in a pretty poor Barcelona team, which we haven\u2019t seen.<\/p>\n
“In that sense, it\u2019s exciting we\u2019ve got the young guys that are producing as they are but the longevity we have to respect that these guys have produced for the years that they have.”<\/p>\n
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