After 15 years of thrilling battles, sublime skill and superhuman achievements, it looks like the careers of two of the greatest footballers to ever play the game are winding down.
For a generation of fans, the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo era will be the best footballing memories of their lives, the pinnacle of greatness. For years many have argued over who was the best, but really we should just be grateful to have witnessed first-hand two extraordinary players at the peak of their powers.
As is the case in any field, not just football, the old is eventually replaced with the new. New legacies are forged and memories created, but it is difficult to not make comparisons to the greatness that came before.
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In Manchester City's Phil Foden and Barcelona's Pedri, football might have found its new generational talents. At the ages of 21 and 19 respectively, both have already earned reputations for leaving supporters open-mouthed with their technical brilliance and understanding of the game.
Of course, there are other brilliant young players who will one day be - or already are - among the best in the world. Erling Haaland could well be latching onto Foden passes next season, while the likes of Gavi and Ansu Fati are just as much a part of Xavi's youth revolution at Barca as Pedri. But none are spoken about in revered tones by legends of the game quite like Foden and Pedri are.
"He is the most talented player I have ever seen," Pep Guardiola famously said of Foden in 2019. When Rio Ferdinand asked him last year if Messi was not the best he'd ever seen, the City boss elaborated.
"Well, the best is Messi, first. Second, I didn't meet Messi at 17 years old when I met Phil, and that age, I've never seen a player with this potential."
For a manager that has coached the likes of Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, that says an awful lot. However, the latter does not agree. "If we’re talking about pure talent, Pedri is the best in the world," Xavi said of the Barca teenager last month. "I haven’t seen many talents like him. He reminds me a lot of Iniesta.
"He is a superlative player," the coach said after Pedri scored a stunning solo goal to give his side a 1-0 victory over Sevilla on Sunday. "It is a spectacle to watch him play."
Given how highly Foden and Pedri are rated by their respective coaches - both legendary former Barcelona midfielders - and how much joy they have already brought to their respective fanbases in their fledgling careers, one lesson that should be learned from the Messi and Ronaldo era is not to compare, but appreciate.
While City and Barca will obviously not come to blows as often as Messi's Barca and Ronaldo's Real Madrid did over the years, there is potential for a rivalry to develop between the two clubs in the Champions League.
One side is a rejuvenated Barca, gradually returning to the ways of Cruyffismo and Guardiolaismo after years of stagnation and decline. The other, City, is Barca mark two, led by Barcelona's greatest ever coach and playing a style of football made famous at the Camp Nou.
Both are led by two young poster boys, steeped in their club's traditions and styles. Both will achieve great things over the next 15 years, but that doesn't mean we have to pit them against each other. Just like those who experienced the rises of Messi and Ronaldo in the mid-to-late-2000s, we are lucky to now be witnessing the advent of a new era.
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