Barcelona Great Lionel Messi Hangs Out With Tennis Superstar Rafael Nadal In Ibiza

In a moment to cherish for football and tennis fans around the world, multiple-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi met tennis' World No.1 Rafael Nadal at a night club in Ibiza, Spain. The duo were seen spending some summer downtime away from their routine training sessions. Messi and Nadal were all smiles in the picture, which has made quite a buzz on various social media platforms. Meanwhile, an ageing Messi has made no signs of his international retirement after Argentina exited the recently concluded FIFA World Cup 2018 in the Round of 16. According to express.co.uk, "both superstars are expected to be back in action later this summer but for now the pair are on holiday. And they appeared to bump into each other on a night out in Ibiza. The pair were said to have been at an exclusive restaurant on the Mediterranean island."

"Wooow ??, what a pic... Two legends of their game, Nadal and Messi," one of the fans took to social media and wrote.

Wooow ??, what a pic... Two legends of their game, Nadal and Messi pic.twitter.com/SfVPEKfNNS

— Rohan (@Rohandinho_) July 20, 2018

Spain's Rafael Nadal remained on top of the latest ATP rankings and has widened the gap over number two Roger Federer, who was eliminated by Kevin Anderson in a marathon quarter-final at Wimbledon.

The Spanish star lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Wimbledon with the Serbian going on to clinch the title at the All England Club.

Meanwhile, Messi, who in 2016 reversed his retirement from international football, struggled to inspire Argentina at the Russia World Cup.

Even before making it to the World Cup finals in Russia, the Argentines had struggled during the qualifiers and were in danger of missing out.

Messi missed eight qualifying matches through injury and suspension and that seemed to have an adverse affect on the team with Argentina winning just one of those matches.

Trailing 0-1 to Ecuador in their final qualifier, the two-time world champions were on course to miss out on the World Cup for the first time since 1970 until Messi stepped up to score a hat-trick at the high-altitude stadium in Quito.

Messi also publicly described the Argentine federation as "a disaster" due to logistical problems suffered by the team during the 2016 Copa America.

Topics mentioned in this article

Barcelona Lionel Messi Argentina Rafael Nadal Football