Lionel Messi will return to Spain on Wednesday when Paris Saint-Germain play Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, the scene of some of the most famous performances of his incredible career before he swapped Barcelona for Paris.
A player who dominated the sport for a decade together with a teammate returns to the Spanish capital having only scored seven times in 24 games this season.
It was Kylian Mbappe who gave the French giants their first-leg advantage back at the Parc des Princes, and he is not the only player trying to overtake Messi andRonaldo at the summit of the world.
Are we entering a new era in the battle for the best player in the world?
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Jamie Carragher thinks that the last Ballon d'Or won by Messi will be the last one.
The new generation is ready to take on that mantle.
For the first time in years, if you asked people which player in the world they would sign if they could only pick one, no one would say Messi orRonaldo.
The clearest sign that these two are fading from the levels they were before is when you name players other than them.
They are no longer the best players in the world.
The old magic is still there, even though Lionel Messi assisted in Paris Saint-Germain's recent win.
He moved inside from the right flank and passed to Mbappe.
He set up the same player after dancing through a crowd of defenders on the edge of the box.
His output has dropped dramatically for the first time in his career since those moments of inspiration took him to 10 assists in Ligue 1 this season.
There have been five games in the European competition, but only two in the French league. A player who averaged more than 30 per season in league games alone at Barcelona is new to this area.
It was always going to be more difficult.
It must have been a wrench. When he left the club, we were all sad to see it.
It was fitting that he would play his entire career for one club.
He had a brilliant season in his last season at Barcelona, with the numbers you would always expect him to get, but it hasn't quite clicked for him at Paris Saint-Germain.
There is a lot of star players who are desperate to be the main man and possibly one who is about to take that mantle.
In addition to his 10 assists in the French league, Mbappe has 14 goals and two in the recent win over St Etienne.
He has shone in the group stage, scoring four goals and four assists, and his solo winner in the last-16 first-leg clash with Real Madrid is the club desperate to sign him this summer.
In October, Carragher said that the best player in the world was Salah, but he thinks that Kylian Mbappe is the main competition for the crown.
He says that he thinks the toss-up would be between the two players.
I think the season he is having, and the numbers he has got compared to anyone else in the league, which is the best league in the world right now, just shows how far ahead of everyone else he is.
The French league is a level down, but what he did in the first leg against Real Madrid shows how special he is.
A World Cup-winner already, and it will be interesting to see where he is playing football next season.
His age is one advantage. The Frenchman is six years younger than Messi and could be a challenge to dominate the game in the same way.
I think it will be very difficult for anyone to dominate in the way Messi andRonaldo have done for so long. There is a chance that someone else will take their mantle in four or five years.
It shows how far ahead of everyone else they were for Messi andRonaldo to hold off the competition for so long.
The Frenchman has the edge over the other two, according to Gary.
At times earlier in the season, he was at a level that was the best in the world, and he still could be.
I don't think it's aLiverpool thing, but I think Mbappe has the ability to be out-of-this-world special.
There is no doubt that Salah is world-class, but Mbappe has something different that could make him one of the true greats.
In terms of excitement, thrill, speed, Mbappe is absolutely sensational.
He has a resemblance to Henry, but he also has a bit ofRonaldo in him.
It would be the ultimate thing for him to win the European Championship with Paris Saint-Germain. The World Cup and the European Championship would be the crowning glory for Mbappe.
It is likely that emulating Messi andRonaldo's longevity is impossible.
That is the great challenge for Mbappe.
The resilience, consistency, standards season in, season out, number of games they have played, their toughness, mentally and physically, to endure all the kickings they will have taken, and the criticism, are what we mustn't underestimate.
To get to those levels, Mbappe is going to have to win three or four European Championships, he has to score 30 to 40 goals a season for a decade, and he has to go and do it in a country other than France.
I don't think Haaland and Mbappe can get to the level of Messi andRonaldo.
Two young players are incredibly talented. They can become the best in the world.
We shouldn't think that every new, young superstar will take over from Messi andRonaldo, who are the kind of players you would be lucky to see once every 80 years.
The numbers that Messi andRonaldo have achieved are out of this world.
Since his return to Manchester United, his performances have been put under the microscope and his suitability to the side has been discussed despite his continued scoring feats.
He has done well, but we are judging him against the player he was before that.
Unfortunately, that is the way it is for these guys who have dominated for a long time.
I didn't think it was a great signing for Manchester United, or that it was going to take them any closer to the title or any big trophies, and I would be surprised if he's there next season.
For him as an individual, or anyone, to still be playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world at 37 is an achievement in itself.
The expectations around goal scoring have been redefined.
The numbers they have hit are even more incredible because they have not been traditional centre-forwards.
On goals,Ronaldo and Messi have redefined the game.
Normally the biggest goalscorers in a team are centre- forwards. Wide players were assisting and crossing. They have changed the way we view the wide forward in football.
The wide forward can now score 30-40 goals a season. It's because of the expectation that has been set byRonaldo and Messi that the wide strikers are scoring a lot of goals.
It is ridiculous that they have done it for 15 seasons in a row.
Haaland has a goal scoring record that places him among the elite.
The Norwegian has scored 56 goals in 57 games in the German league since he arrived at the club from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020 and this season has been his most prolific yet, with a total of 16 goals and five assists in 14 league games.
Haaland's character is as important as his ability when it comes to his hopes of achieving greatness.
He says he likes Haaland's personality and that he doesn't care what anyone thinks.
He has a bit of Eric Cantona in him. If you like, he is the modern-day version.
I get that people call it arrogant, but he has the ability to back it up. You cannot teach that.
Football needs people like him. We want players to have something about them. For every angel, we want a Haaland, a young personality who doesn't do things perfectly.
We want professional, well-behaved people, but we also want personality and character and people who are willing to go against the norm, that is what Haaland does.
His numbers are the most important for him.
There is always competition between him and other players in terms of number of goals and that is what we seem to judge the best players in the world now, goals scored and assists made. It is all about numbers.
It was more about the play when I was younger. It was not normally a goal scorer who was the best player in the world.
When I was a child, I thought ofMichel Platini. Lothar Matthaus was a player in 1990. You don't see him for a lot of goals, more great goals. Rivaldo was not the only one.
It wasn't always the guy who scored the most goals, but I think Messi andRonaldo have changed that.
The Ballon d'Or voting last year did not have a winner. He missed out on the award because it was canceled in the year before that.
Few could argue that he did not deserve to win the prize on both occasions. He has scored 103 goals in the last three seasons. It is 132 if you include the games in the European League.
The numbers are amazing. When the next season starts, he will be 34 and he keeps getting better. The four most prolific seasons of his career have all come in the last five years.
Does he deserve more recognition?
It is unfortunate for him that he is at the peak of his powers when other people like Messi andRonaldo are around.
He has done brilliantly to keep it going as he gets older.
He is mostly a scorer but the timing for him is off. That has been a problem for a lot of players.
He doesn't feel he's at the level required to be considered the world's best.
He says that Lewandowski is a great centre-forward, but he doesn't think we should put him near Messi and Ronaldo.
He has great humility and wouldn't put himself in that category. Had it not been for Covid, he would have won the Ballon d'Or in 2020.
But ultimately, Lewandowski hit the Messi and Ronaldo era, and now looks to be catching the start of the Haaland and Mbappe era.
The visit of Paris Saint-Germain to the Real Madrid on Wednesday is more than just a chance for Messi and Mbappe to impress. It is also a chance for him.
He has never made more than 20 league appearances for Paris Saint-Germain in a single season, despite his 200 million dollar move from Barcelona, due to persistent injury problems.
His brilliance is 30 years old. As well as anyone who has watched him dismantle his Valencia side with Barcelona, he knows that.
He will be remembered as one of the greats, says Gary.
When I was at Valencia, Luis Suarez, Neymar, and Messi beat us. I have never seen anything like it in my life, as I was watching them destroy the team I was coaching.
In terms of speed of play, talent, skill, agility, intelligence, link-up play, I have never seen forward play as creative and skillful as I witnessed that day in my life.
I thought that the three of them would be as good as I would see, but the three at Barcelona were off the scale.
He has been one of the best for a long time. I think he is a top player.
He gets a little bit of criticism at different times, maybe because he didn't become the best player in the world.
I didn't like that he moved to Paris Saint-Germain. I don't think he went for the right reasons.
He was in a brilliant team at that time, with Messi and Luis Suarez, and they were the best team in the world.
He left that for selfish reasons to become the Ballon d'Or winner and try to take Paris Saint-Germain to a higher level of competition.
He is a great player, but I think he has missed the chance to be the best player in the world with the arrival of Mbappe and Haaland.
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