Grinding out 1-0 wins away in Cadiz and overrelying on a goalkeeper may be the norm for the current-day Barcelona and Real Madrid but not long ago they used to dominate every opponent on their way.
Winning 5-0 in La Liga and the Champions League was commonplace for the somewhat dormant Spanish clubs and it was possible thanks to incredible trios up front.
- MSN for Messi, Suarez and Neymar;
- BBC for Bale, Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo.
As you read this article, the last one of the six is about to leave Europe — Neymar is signing for Al Hilal. The Brazilian has had some great campaigns with Paris Saint-Germain but they didn't sign him for €222m to do rainbow flicks in Ligue 1.
To many PSG fans Neymar is still a mercenary who, despite G/A numbers that would be unbelievable for 99% of footballers, represents years of failure in the Champions League. His exit will end this toxic relationship.
But what of the rest of the MSN and BBC? Here's what they have been up to.
Leo Messi is enjoying life in Miami scoring goals in every game and leading his new club to their first ever trophy — at the time of writing, Inter Miami are in the semifinal of the Leagues Cup.
Luis Suarez is playing for Gremio who are currently second in the Brazilian league. For a 36-year-old he's still quite prolific even if he tends to have barren spells.
Gareth Bale retired aged 33 but before he did, he'd led Los Angeles FC to the MLS Cup (the equivalent of winning the league in Europe). He came in clutch in the final by scoring a 120+8' equaliser that sent LA into the penalty shootout they won.
Karim Benzema, the current Ballon d'Or holder, is now playing in Saudi Arabia for defending champions Al Ittihad. The season in Saudi Arabia has just begun so we are yet to see how he copes there.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been in Saudi Arabia since January playing for Al Nassr. At this level at least he can still do it and most recently he has led his team to an epic cup victory.
To sum up, three of the legendary duos are plying their trade in Saudi Arabia, two more are playing across the pond and one is retired.
