Colossal friendlies

Cristiano Ronaldo will try to outshine Lionel Messi on his return to Old Trafford when the two best players in the world clash in a friendly between Portugal and Argentina on Tuesday.

Real Madrid forward Ronaldo and Barcelona striker Messi are locked in a battle to prove themselves the top player on the planet and their latest showdown comes on the former home turf of the Portugal icon.

The duo have deservedly become serial trophy collectors over the last decade, with team and individual prizes hoovered up on a regular basis.

Ronaldo hopes to add a third Ballon D'Or this year, and few would disagree if he pipped Messi and several contenders from the German World Cup winning team.

Ronaldo has 18 league goals already this season, while Messi has -- by his standards -- a modest total of seven, although he was voted player of the tournament at this year's World Cup

Also in Ronaldo's favour, he became the record goalscorer in European Championship qualifying and tournament history with his strike in a 1-0 victory over Armenia at the weekend.

That was his 23rd goal in the competition, surpassing the previous high mark set by Jan

There will also be a return to Manchester for former City and United striker Carlos Tevez.

Tevez, now with Juventus, came back into the Argentina squad last week after three years in exile and played in last week's 2-1 friendly win over Croatia.

Spain side were on the crest of a wave last time they faced Germany on the way to winning the 2010 World Cup but they now meet on Tuesday in what will be a stern test for a new fledgling team.

The stalwarts of a golden team that also won Euro 2008 and 2012 such as Carles Puyol, Xavi, Xabi Alonso and David Villa have retired from La Roja, so coach Vicente del Bosque has put the building blocks in place for a new Spain side following the failure at the Brazil World Cup to progress from the group stage.

The team that will now take on Germany, who replaced them as world champions, in Vigo are not yet the finished article but there are positive signs. Many of the players coming through enjoyed success with Spain at youth level, including under-21 European champions in 2011 and 2013.

In Britain's most anticipated game of the day England and Scotland will renew their 142-year-old rivalry in a end-of-year friendly at Glasgow's Celtic Park on Tuesday.

Roy Hodgson's England are riding high after opening up a six-point advantage at the top of their qualifying group by coming from behind to beat Slovenia 3-1 on Saturday.

Having won all four of their Group E games to date, qualification is already beginning to appear a formality, and in age-old rivals Scotland they face a team who have not beaten them in 15 years.

But Scottish confidence is also on the up and with England's dispiriting World Cup group-stage exit still fresh in the memory, Hodgson will know that a poor result could disturb his side's fragile momentum.

England won 3-2 when the teams last met at Wembley Stadium in August last year but England have not ventured north of the border since November 1999, when they won the first leg of a Euro 2000 qualifying play-off 2-0 at Hampden Park, and they can expect a fiery reception.

Brazil will face a test as well against an Austrian team led by David Alaba, and they will have to overcome the conditions in Vienna to secure a win.

PSG star Zlatan Ibrahimovic will return to France, where he plays his club football, but will be unable to lead Sweden out against France, as he is suffering from a niggling injury at the Marseilles.

Italy will look to put their draw behind them as they take on Albania, while Ireland will face off against USA in a friendly game.

Fixtures
(All Times BST)
Tuesday
Japan vs Australia (4:20PM)
Slovenia vs Colombia, Greece vs Serbia (11:00PM)
Wednesday
Austria vs Brazil (12:00AM)
Italy vs Albania, Spain vs Germany, Argentina vs Portugal, Republic of Ireland vs United States, Poland vs Switzerland (1:45AM)
France vs Sweden, Scotland vs England (2:00AM)
Chile vs Uruguay (6:00AM)