Cristiano Ronaldo has not won any major trophies since then. Arrival in Saudi ArabiaAnd Al Nasr will be hoping the 41-year-old Portuguese star returns to action on Wednesday, helping the Riyadh club move closer to a silver medal.
Al-Nasr will face Turkmenistan’s Al-Kadag for a place in the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League 2.
Ronaldo has not featured in Al Nasr’s last two matches in the Saudi Professional League amid reports that he is unhappy with the club’s funding methods, especially after watching rival matches. Al Hilal signs Karim Benzema in last month’s transfer market.
Al-Nasr, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahly are all majority-owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
In a statement, the SPL outlined that no player is bigger than their club or league.
“The Saudi Professional League is built on the simple principle that all clubs operate independently under the same rules,” the league said. “Cristiano has been fully involved with Al Nasr since joining and has played a key role in the club’s growth and ambitions. However, no matter how important a person is, he cannot make decisions beyond his own club.”
Despite the absence of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Al Nasr defeated reigning champions Al Ittihad 2-0 on Friday.
Ittihad are the only team out of the top three teams in the AFC Champions League Elite who have not yet qualified for the round of 16 with two group stage games remaining.
Despite losing star striker Karim Benzema to Al Hilal last week, Al Hilal have a history of making high-profile signings, including: Paris Saint-Germain’s Neymar In 2023, Ittihad will advance to the next round if they defeat Al Gharafa (Qatar) on Tuesday.
The top eight players from each of the tournament’s two 12-team groups, geographically divided into East Asia and West Asia, will qualify for the second round.
Coach Simone Inzaghi can choose to rest his players, as Al Hilal are at the top of the Western division and are the only team with a perfect record of six wins from six matches. Al Ahly, who won the Champions League for the first time in May, are also certain to advance to the final round.
Only Vissel Kobe has qualified in the East Division, but if Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Machida Zelvia win this week, Japan will have three teams advance to the last 16.
Pressure is mounting on the three Chinese national teams that occupy the bottom three.
Chinese champions Shanghai Port are in last place and on the verge of being kicked out of the tournament. If Chengdu Rongcheng and Shanghai Shenhua win, the two teams will remain in contention.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
