Cristiano Ronaldo missed Al-Nass’s AFC Champions League Elite match against Al-Sadd on Monday, which they lost 1-2. This was Al-Nassr’s first loss of the season in the Champions League.
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Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr went down to Qatari outfit Al-Sadd 1-2 on Monday in an AFC Champions League Elite match that Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo missed. After a goalless first half in Riyadh, Al Sadd opened the scoring in the 53rd minute on the back of a goal from Akram Afif. Defender Roman Saiss then equalised for Al-Nassr in the 80th minute, only for Al-Nassr to lose momentum once again and concede a penalty towards the end of the game after Afif tripped inside the penalty area. Algeria’s Adam Ounas converted the penalty in the ninth minute of second half injury time with a left-footed shot towards the centre of the goal.
The win helped Al Sadd, fourth in the standings in Western Region group stage with 12 points from six matches, secure a place in the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League Elite competition. Meanwhile, this was the first loss for Al Nassr in the Champions League this season. Al-Nassr remain in third place with 13 points from six matches.
Why did Cristiano Ronaldo miss Al-Nassr’s Champions League match on Monday?
Al Nassr too had qualified for the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League following their 3-1 win over Al-Gharafa on 25 November. Cristiano Ronaldo
scored a brace in that match as Al-Nassr qualified with four wins and a draw.
There have been no injury concerns as far as Ronaldo is concerned. It could have been a tactical move from Al Nassr to rest Ronaldo from their game against Al Sadd on Monday, given that Al Nassr had already qualified for the next stage.
Ronaldo has scored 15 goals across all competitions for Al Nassr this season and assisted thrice. He has scored nine of these goals in the Saudi Pro League, and is three goals behind Al Hilal’s Aleksandar Mitrović, who is leading the goal-scorers’ charts with 12 goals. Ronaldo has scored four goals in the Champions League so far, as well as two goals in the Saudi Super Cup.
In October, Ronaldo had also missed his team’s
Saudi Pro League match against Al-Kholood as well as Portugal’s
UEFA Nations League match against Croatia in November. Al-Nass will next face Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League on Friday.
