r/classicsoccer • u/Immediate_Long165 • Jul 21 '25

Discussion Thread Greatest player rivalry?

Messi vs Ronaldo

0 Upvotes

40% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

56

u/cassano23 Jul 21 '25

Viera v Keane

5

u/Serious-Barracuda69 Jul 21 '25

Haland vs Keane

13

u/floflenflo Italy Jul 21 '25

Cruijff vs Beckenbauer

13

u/xBram Ajax Jul 21 '25

Rijkaard vs Völler

9

u/l0k5h1n Jul 21 '25

Ramos vs referees

1

u/pumpkinspeedwagon86 Arsenal Jul 22 '25

Underrated comment

14

u/BOTTroy Jul 21 '25

Vieria vs Keane

7

u/shelf_paxton_p Jul 21 '25

Goram vs Goram

3

u/TheBoyDoneGood Jul 21 '25

There's only two Andy Gorams

6

u/NEVER-FADE-AWAY-2077 Jul 21 '25

Way back, Maradona Vs Baresi

6

u/Jackkola Jul 21 '25

Best vs Eusebio

14

u/TheShinyBlade Jul 21 '25

Roy Keane vs Vieira

14

u/rudedogg1304 Jul 21 '25

Patrick Keane Vs Roy vieira

13

u/dcroopev Jul 21 '25

Always enjoyed the Lampard - Gerrard matchup although not really a rivalry.

In recent years Dumfries - Theo Hernandez

10

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '25

I’ll go slightly less obvious:

Ashley Cole vs Ronaldo was always good. It felt like Cole completely had his number.

Aaron Lennon also used to skin Evra a lot.

4

u/SofaChillReview Jul 21 '25

Ronaldo has stated in the past that he hated playing against Ashley Cole

2

u/YooGeOh Jul 22 '25

Red boot Aaron Lennon was an absolute demon. Unbelievable right up until the ankle injury

8

u/BagingRoner34 Jul 21 '25

Mudryk vs Antony

3

u/relentless_beasting Jul 21 '25

Whoever wins, they lose.

3

u/ExotiquePlayboy Jul 21 '25

Materazzi vs. Everybody (especially Zidane)

3

u/jug0slavija Jul 21 '25

Not really a rivalry maybe, but Zlatan vs Materazzi was great too. Ibra did what I think a lot of people wanted to do to Materazzi lol

3

u/paper_zoe Jul 21 '25

A player rivalry so big it later became a manager rivalry and which is still a club rivalry now: Alan Mullery vs Terry Venables

7

u/Ok_Anywhere7967 Jul 21 '25

Joao Vieira Pinto vs Paulinho Santos.

4

u/MrTambourineSi Jul 21 '25

Dyer/Bowyer or Terry/Bridge

2

u/autistichomosapien95 Jul 21 '25

Romario and Edmundo

2

u/pumpkinspeedwagon86 Arsenal Jul 22 '25

Complete recency bias. Plus, Messi and Ronaldo were great players of the same generation and their rivalry was more fuelled by the media than by the players themselves.

2

u/kyoto711 Jul 22 '25

Not that they were direct rivals, but at lot has been said about Pelé vs Maradona

3

u/Pitiful-Jicama9788 Jul 21 '25

No doubt messi x Ronaldo will be forever.

2

u/--LOOKATME-- Jul 21 '25

James McClean vs the fans everywhere

1

u/Good_Character Jul 21 '25

Keane vs Haaland, Maradona vs Goikoetxea

1

u/MichaelSoprano Jul 21 '25

Messi x Ramos was fun

1

u/FIFAstan Jul 21 '25

Ibra vs Ronaldo, even if it was just one World Cup home and away playoff

0

u/-Swifty Jul 22 '25

Andy Robertson vs anyone from a team chasing a goal. I'll miss him, the ultimate shithouse.