Clattenburg was a Premier League referee for 13 years and also took charge of games in the Champions League games and major international tournaments.
He refereed numerous notable matches, such as the Champions League and European Championship finals in 2016, and shared the pitch with some of the game's biggest names.
The 46-year-old joined talkSPORT on Thursday morning and recalled the times he first saw Messi and Ronaldo up close.
He told Breakfast: "I remember refereeing Messi for the first time in Paris. It was Paris against Barca.
"When I was watching him play I was watching the ball and getting mesmerised. I started to get dizzy watching him move the ball with his feet.
"Then you watch Ronaldo, I will never forget the first time I refereed Real Madrid and Ronaldo scored.
"The goalkeeper [Iker] Casillas has the ball and within five seconds, three passes and Real Madrid had scored. I was still on the halfway line and I thought 'I may as well wait here for the ball to come back'.
"It was unbelievable."
Clattenburg quit as a Premier League referee in 2017 and he revealed the moment that he knew it was time to call it a day.
He said: "I started thinking about it when I had an altercation with [Jose] Mourinho at Stoke City. Stoke City vs Man United is never the easiest games and Stoke is one of the worst places to go referee.
"It's freezing cold. It's one of the worst places to ever go for refereeing.
"It's one of those ones where he came in and tried to play mind games on a decision and I just lost it.
"I threw a boot against the wall and there was a big argument. I said I was going to quit and he said 'don't quit, you are the best referee'.
"I knew then I wanted to go.
"When VAR was being introduced to the Premier League, I didn't have any time. I was abroad all the time, in St Georges every two weeks and refereeing every week.
"I also didn't want to be going down to the VAR centre at Stockley Park every week. I thought 'lets try and change it'."
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