Legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan met the biggest stars of the football world before the start of an exhition match between Lionel Messi's Paris St Germain and a Saudi All-star XI led by Cristiano Ronaldo in Riyadh on Thursday night, with netizens going gaga on social media.
The legendary actor was invited to Riyadh as the chief guest for the star-studded football match. He was escorted to the field in the presence of PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, where he met and shook hands with players from both teams, including Argentinian legend Messi, Portuguese icon Ronaldo, French sensation Kylian Mbappe, and Brazilian superstar Neymar.
Later, the veteran actor posted a video of the memorable moment on Twitter, saying: "An evening in Riyadh... what an evening... Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Mbappee, Neymar all playing together... and yours truly invited as guest to inaugurate the game... PSG vs Riyadh Seasons... Incredible!!!"
In the video, the actor could be seen shaking hands with each player, and exchanging a few words with Ronaldo and Messi. Netizens were quick to react with one user commenting, "It was indeed an iconic meeting of world's popular sportsmen with our most-loved superstar actor."
"Bet u felt ecstatic sir meeting these football legends, u can see your bursting with pride when you handshake Ronaldo and Messi. Well done," wrote another user.
"Historic moment... the living legend himself GOAT of Cinema Amitabh Bachchan ji @SrBachchan Meets the Goats of Soccer Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Mbappe," wrote an user.
Apart from the starry meet-ups, the match wasn't short of excitement either. While Ronaldo scored twice, Messi scored the opening goal to set the tone for the night.
The match saw nine goals scored by the two teams. PSG eventually won the match 5-4 with 10 men after Juan Bernat was sent off in the first half.
Thursday's match was the first match-up between Messi and Ronaldo since 2020, and the 37th in their careers.