Messi got 85,000 fans. Ronaldo got an Instagram video.

Happy Friday, folks.

Last month, Lionel Messi said goodbye to Argentina in front of 85,000 people. Yesterday, Cristiano Ronaldo said goodbye to Portugal in a video on Instagram.

Two GOATs, two very different last orders. On tap today:

• 🇵🇹 Ronaldo’s 23 years with Portugal, told in five nights

• ⚽ A record 9-1 in the Champions League

• 🍻 A beer with Brazil’s Raphinha, the Barcelona club captain

Let’s tap in.

🥃 TOP SHELF

Ronaldo hands back the No. 7

On Thursday morning, Cristiano Ronaldo retired from international soccer. He’s 41.

He played 234 games for Portugal and scored 146 goals. Both are world records for a men’s player.

He didn’t go out the way most legends do. No farewell game, no lap of honor. Just a video on Instagram, the day before Portugal’s coach was due to name his next squad.

“Hold on, Joe. Didn’t he just play at the World Cup?”

He did. Here’s the short version of what happened since.

How it ended

In September, Ronaldo sat on the bench for all 90 minutes of Portugal’s 2-1 win in Norway. He says coach Jorge Jesus promised him 30 minutes that day. Jesus denies there was ever a deal.

Ronaldo walked out of the team’s camp before the next game. Then he posted a statement of almost 2,000 words accusing Jesus of a “breach of trust.”

Portugal’s federation banned him for 30 days and fined him $266. About the price of one big round in FiDi, Manhattan.

Portugal won every game without him, and his replacement, Gonçalo Ramos, scored three goals.

Think Tom Brady leaving the Patriots. Two decades of winning, a falling-out over who’s really in charge, and suddenly the best player in the building is gone.

But before the messy ending, there was a career. Here are the five nights that made it.

1. Tears at 19 (Euro 2004)

Ronaldo made his Portugal debut in August 2003, at 18, about a week after Manchester United signed him.

The next summer, Portugal hosted the European Championship, Europe’s version of the World Cup, held every four years. Ronaldo scored his first international goal in the opening game.

Portugal made it all the way to the final in Lisbon, then lost 1-0 to Greece, a team nobody gave a chance. A 19-year-old Ronaldo cried on the field. It would take him 12 years to reach the final again.

2. The wink (2006 World Cup)

Portugal met England in the 2006 World Cup quarterfinals. England striker Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo’s teammate at Manchester United, got sent off for stamping on a Portugal defender.

Ronaldo had been in the referee’s ear about it. As Rooney walked off, cameras caught Ronaldo winking at his own bench. Then he scored the winning kick in the penalty shootout. Cue uproar from every fan in England.

Imagine an NBA star getting his club teammate ejected at the Olympics, then winking about it. Now imagine sharing a locker room with him in August. It all ended well, though. They patched it up and won the Premier League together that season.

3. The final he watched from the sideline (Euro 2016)

Twelve years after Lisbon, Portugal reached the Euro 2016 final in Paris against the hosts, France.

Ronaldo lasted 25 minutes. A bad French tackle resulted in a knee injury, a stretcher, and more tears.

Then, in extra time, he was back on the touchline next to his coach, shouting instructions and waving his arms like an assistant coach in a captain’s armband.

Substitute Éder scored in the 109th minute. Portugal won 1-0, the first major trophy in their history. Ronaldo won the one he wanted most from the sideline. Somehow, that’s the most Ronaldo thing ever.

4. A hat trick against Spain (2018 World Cup)

Portugal opened the 2018 World Cup against their neighbors Spain, the 2010 world champions.

Ronaldo scored a penalty in the fourth minute, then a second before halftime when Spain’s keeper fumbled his shot. Spain hit back to lead 3-2.

With two minutes left, Portugal won a free kick just outside the box. Ronaldo curled it into the top corner to finish his hat trick and rescue a 3-3 draw.

Think a buzzer-beating three to force a tie, against your biggest rival, on the biggest stage there is.

5. Six World Cups (Houston, 2026)

This summer, at 41, Ronaldo played at his sixth World Cup, a men’s record he shares with Messi.

Against Uzbekistan in Houston, he scored twice and became the first man to score at six different World Cups - a record not even Messi can match, who failed to score at the 2010 World Cup.

Portugal went out in the round of 16 to a stoppage-time goal from, of course, Spain. He never reached a World Cup final. It’s the one gap in his résumé, and Messi fans will never let him forget it.

The final tab

234 games, 146 goals, 141 international victories, all men’s records. Six World Cups and 11 World Cup goals. The most goals in European Championship history (14). Euro 2016, plus two Nations League titles (Europe’s newer international competition).

He signed off with “Portugal will always be in me.” The federation says a proper tribute will come later. Portugal play Denmark next Saturday, their first game of the post-Ronaldo era.

Last time we put Messi vs Ronaldo to the bar, back in August, Messi took 81% of the vote. Now that they’ve both hung up their international boots, let’s ask again.

🗣️ SOUND LIKE A REGULAR

“Siuuu!”

/siˈuː/ 🔊

exclamation · soccer

1. Definition: Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal celebration. A sprint, a jump with a spin, a landing with arms flung wide, and a roar of “Siuuu!” Crowds shout it with him, and athletes in other sports copy it.

2. Origin: It comes from “sí,” Spanish for “yes.” Ronaldo first did it in Miami in August 2013, after scoring for Real Madrid against Chelsea in a preseason game. He says it just felt natural.

USED IN A SENTENCE

“Hat trick against Spain, free kick with two minutes left, 3-3. You didn’t need the sound on to know what came next. Siuuu.”

🗞️ THE WEEKLY TAP-IN…

Premier League preview

Matchweek 10 of 38, and the last round before a two-week international break. Arsenal lead on 24 points, three clear of Manchester City. All times ET.

• Nottingham Forest v Man City (Sat, 12:30pm, NBC): City have lost two league games in a row, but won 3-2 in Leipzig on Wednesday thanks to a late Erling Haaland goal.

• Crystal Palace v Liverpool (Sun, 9am, Peacock): Liverpool have lost two in a row for the first time under manager Andoni Iraola. First Arsenal at home, then in Istanbul on Wednesday (more below).

• Man United v Aston Villa (Sun, 11:30am, USA): United won on Tuesday for the first time in ten games. Villa got beaten 3-0 in Barcelona the same night.

The rest: Everton v Coventry (tonight, 3pm, USA). Sat: Leeds v Tottenham (7:30am, USA), Arsenal v Hull (10am, Peacock), Fulham v Newcastle (10am, USA). Sun, 9am: Brighton v Brentford and Ipswich v Bournemouth (Peacock), Sunderland v Chelsea (USA).

Full weekend fixture list.

Champions League recap

Regulars will remember we had a beer with Nico Paz back in October. On Wednesday night, he and his club Como did something no team had ever done.

• Lens 1-9 Como: The biggest away win in Champions League history. Striker Anastasios Douvikas scored a hat trick. Paz scored one, set up two more, and was subbed off before the hour. He dedicated his goal to Jesús de Miguel, a Tenerife player who died last week. Paz now leads the entire competition with eight goals and assists combined, and Como, in their first-ever Champions League season, are fourth.

• Barcelona 3-0 Aston Villa: Villa’s perfect start is over. A mix-up between their keeper and a defender gifted Lamine Yamal the opener after seven minutes, and Barcelona captain Raphinha added two.

• Man United 3-2 Roma: 2-0 down after 18 minutes. Then a Bruno Fernandes penalty and two late goals from Matheus Cunha. A first win in ten. Manager Michael Carrick needed that like a Corona needs a lime.

• Fenerbahçe 3-2 Liverpool: Liverpool led twice and still lost. Fenerbahçe’s coach? Dirk Kuyt, a Liverpool fan favorite from his playing days. I feel for you, Reds.

• Slavia Prague 1-2 Arsenal and Leipzig 2-3 Man City: Arsenal stay unbeaten in Europe. City needed Haaland’s goal 12 minutes from time.

One more record: PSG were 4-0 up against Villarreal after 16 minutes, the fastest four goals the competition has ever seen. They won 6-0.

The table, halfway through: PSG and Real Madrid are perfect on 12 points. Arsenal are third on 10. Como, Barcelona, Villa, City and Liverpool all have 9. Man United are 17th. The top eight skip the playoff round. Full results.

🍻 HAVE A BEER WITH…

Raphinha

Club and country: Barcelona and Brazil

This week: Barcelona’s captain scored twice to end Aston Villa’s perfect start on Tuesday, then signed a new contract on Thursday that keeps him at the club until 2030. He’s on 19 goals already this season - the most in Europe’s top 5 leagues. On Sunday he leads Barcelona away at Atlético Madrid (3pm ET).

Fact: Premier League fans know him from Leeds United. On the final day of the 2021-22 season, his penalty in a win at Brentford kept Leeds in the league. They sold him to Barcelona that summer.

Toast: A Polar Export, the lager of his home state, Rio Grande do Sul. He grew up in Porto Alegre, the state capital.

Instagram: @raphinha

🔥 HOUSE SPECIALS

⚽ Goal of the week: Matheus Cunha’s 86th-minute winner to complete United’s comeback from 2-0 down against Roma. This fan’s POV wasn’t bad either…

🎉 Fanzone: Man United fans threw tennis balls onto the field against Roma in protest at the Glazers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers owners who bought United with borrowed money in 2005 and put the debt on the club.

📅 On this day: November 6, 1986: Manchester United appointed Alex Ferguson, who went on to manage them for 26 years. Easily one of the best soccer managers of all time.

🐶 Underdog corner: Viking, from Stavanger, Norway, a city of about 120,000 people (roughly Hartford, Connecticut), beat Sabah 4-1 for their first-ever Champions League win.

👕 Wardrobe watch: Ronaldo’s first Manchester United shirt in 2003. He asked for No. 28, and Ferguson handed him the No. 7 that David Beckham had just left behind for Real Madrid.

🔗 Most clicked from Monday: Former England defender turned TV pundit Micah Richards’ picture-perfect “archer’s bow” dive (the worst you’re ever likely to see).

That’s all, folks. Sláinte.