Cristiano Ronaldo watched on from the stands as already-qualified Al Nassr lost for the first time in this year’s Asian Champions League Elite as they were beaten 2-1 in injury time by Qatar’s Al Sadd on Monday. The Portuguese star, 39, was reportedly rested for the fixture in Riyadh given the Saudi club had secured their place in the knockout stages last week, with three rounds of the group phase remaining. Ronaldo scored twice against Al Gharafa, another Qatari side, last time out, and then netted a double again in the Saudi Pro League on Friday. 

However, the Al Nassr captain was omitted from Stefano Pioli’s matchday squad for the visit of Al Sadd.

Ronaldo, who has 15 goals in 18 appearances for his club this season, was spotted at Al Awwal Park sitting alongside his mother Dolores Aveiro and his partner Georgina Rodriguez.

Al Sadd took the lead eight minutes into the second half through Akram Afif, when the reigning AFC Player of the Year raced from the halfway line onto a long ball. 

Afif outpaced defender Mohammed Al Fatil and finishing low past Brazil goalkeeper Bento.

Al Nassr drew level on 80 minutes, once Brazilian youngster Wesley’s low cross was turned into his own goal by Al Sadd defender Romain Saiss. 

However, there would be a huge sting in the tail for Al Nassr, when Afif was tripped inside the hosts’ penalty area and substitute Adam Ounas converted from the spot in the 99th minute.

With the defeat, Al Nassr stay third in the Western Region group stage, while Al Sadd move fourth to also claim a spot in the last 16.

The top eight teams qualify for the knockout stages.

Fellow Saudi side Al Ahli remain top – even if they surrendered their 100 percent record in this year’s tournament – thanks to an Ivan Toney double that secured a 2-2 draw with Iran’s Esteghlal in Jeddah.

The England striker twice equalised for the hosts from the penalty spot, with the first coming deep into first-half injury time and the second converted in the 86th minute. Esteghlal had Mohammed Hossein Eslami sent off five minutes before.

It represented a second successive Champions League Elite match in which Toney has scored twice following his double last week against Asian champions Al Ain.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty miss cost Al-Nassr King’s Cup progression© X (Twitter)

Cristiano Ronaldo was diagnosed on Sunday with a viral infection and will miss Al Nassr’s Asian Champions League opener this week at Iraq’s Al Shorta. The Portuguese veteran is targeting Asia’s top club crown to add to his long list of achievements when the competition kicks off on Monday. “Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo was not feeling well today and was diagnosed with a viral infection,” said a club statement posted on social media platform X on Sunday.

“The team’s doctor confirmed he needs to rest and stay at home. As a result he will not be travelling with the team to Iraq today. We wish our captain a speedy recovery.”

The former Real Madrid and Manchester United forward saw his first attempt with the Saudi side Al Nassr end in a quarter-final penalty shootout defeat to eventual champions Al Ain earlier this year.

Now rebranded as the Asian Champions League Elite, Al Nassr and the other teams from Saudi Arabia will be a major threat after spending vast sums of money in the last two years on the likes of Ronaldo and Neymar.

England forward Ivan Toney was the latest big name to swap Europe for Saudi when he left Brentford for Al Ahli last month for more than $45 million.

As part of the new-look competition, Saudi Arabia — which is expected to host the 2034 World Cup — will stage a mini knockout tournament from the quarter-finals onward to decide the champions, who will take home at least $12 million.

Al Nassr, Al Ahli and Neymar’s Al Hilal will all be involved when the Champions League Elite launches on Monday with a new format that splits 24 teams evenly into two groups of East and West.

Each team will play eight different opponents in the group stage.

The top eight teams from each zone will play in the last 16 over two legs in March, before the action moves to the final stages in Saudi Arabia from April 25 to May 4.

– Injured Neymar missing –

Saudi champions Al Hilal are looking to win a record-extending fifth Asian title but they are still waiting for the return of Brazilian ace Neymar, who has been sidelined since suffering a serious knee injury last year.

Al Hilal have signed Portugal full-back Joao Cancelo from Manchester City, bolstering a squad that already featured Aleksandar Mitrovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ruben Neves.

Despite the absence of the 39-year-old Ronaldo for Monday’s opening encounter in Bagdad, Al Hilal are still able to call on Sadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte and Marcelo Brozovic.

The defending champions, Al Ain, are from the United Arab Emirates and were coached by Argentina great Hernan Crespo to victory against Japan’s Yokohama F-Marinos over two legs in May’s final.

Al Ain are one of two UAE clubs taking part in this year’s edition, with teams from Qatar, Iran, Uzbekistan and Iraq completing the West zone line-up.

In the East, clubs from Japan have posted the best results in recent years and Yokohama return to the Champions League to spearhead their challenge.

Coach Harry Kewell has been sacked since leading them to last season’s final, with the former Liverpool and Leeds forward paying the price for his team’s lacklustre domestic form.

Kawasaki Frontale and Vissel Kobe are also representing Japan, while three-time champions Pohang Steelers, twice winners Ulsan and debutants Gwangju will carry the flag for South Korea.

Chinese clubs’ spending power has long since dried up, but former Chelsea attacker Oscar is still on the books of Shanghai Port, who are led by Australian coach Kevin Muscat.

Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Shenhua are also involved from China, while one club each from Australia, Thailand and Malaysia feature in the East league stage.

It isn’t often that one sees Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the finest footballers of all time, score free-kick goals. More often than not, Ronaldo‘s attempts are found missing the target but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday. As Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr took on Al-Feiha in a Saudi Pro League match, the Portuguese forward brought his A-game to the fore. Though scoring goals isn’t something that Ronaldo has to struggle with, but his consistency in putting the ball into the back of the net from dead-ball situations had dried over the last few years. But, against Al-Feiha, Ronaldo found his mojo back.

The free-kick goal also marked Ronaldo’s 899th career goal, leaving him just one goal shy of the historic 900-mark. Ronaldo already has 130 goals for his country at the international stage, putting him at the absolute top of the standings.

Ronaldo’s approach towards the free-kick goal was also intriguing. The 39-year-old usually takes a few steps back and tries to hit the ball with power. However, against goalkeeper Abdulraouf Al-Duqayl stunned, he opted for a more measured approach. This time, it was more about beating the goalkeeper by sheer placement and precision. Ronaldo executed that to perfection, scoring his 64th career goal through a free-kick.

Make sure you share this Freekick goal everywhere same way you shared his misses.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Greatest to ever kick a ball! pic.twitter.com/cnlvP7Uoub

— LERRY (@_AsiwajuLerry) August 27, 2024

This was also Ronaldo’s 53rd free-kick goal in club football, putting him just one goal shy of arch-rival Lionel Messi‘s tally. When it comes to the national teams, both Messi and Ronaldo have scored on 11 occasions each. Here’s the goal from another angle:

OMFG THIS ANGLE OF RONALDO FREEKICK

pic.twitter.com/bFXjlPGXho

— fan (@NoodleHairCR7) August 27, 2024

In a recent interview, Ronaldo had spoken about the 1000-goal milestone that he intends to reach in his career. Already sitting on 899 goals, however, Ronaldo would need his body to help him quite a lot if he is to reach the historic landmark.

“It’s going to be pretty tough, but it’s about seeing how I am mentally, my motivation. If, physically, my legs treat me as well as I treat them? We’ll see, they are small stages. Until I get to 1,000, first I have to get to 900. I think I’ll get there,” Ronaldo had said about the record.

“If you look at my career for the last 20 years, my level is high. If you are top for 20 years, it’s unbelievable. I do that and I continue to do that. For me, it’s a big achievement,” he had said.

Courtesy of Ronaldo 899th career goal, Al-Nassr secured a 4-1 win against Al-Feiha.

There are not many players in the history of football that have had a career quite like Cristiano Ronaldo. A journey which started in the streets in Madeira is likely to be called curtain upon in Saudi Arabia as confirmed by the Al-Nassr striker. Ronaldo’s journey has seen him score goals all around the world. After successful stints in Spain, Italy and England, Ronaldo moved to Al-Nassr in January 2023 and has scored 61 goals in 67 games whilst providing 16 assists.

“I don’t know if I will retire soon, in two or three years but probably I will retire at Al Nassr. I’m very happy at this club, and I feel good in this country too, I love playing in Saudi Arabia. I want to continue,” said Ronaldo to Portuguese TV channel NOW

The 39-year-old Portuguese star’s most successful time came for Real Madrid where he attained the status of all-time great. In 438 games, Ronaldo smashed the ball to the back of the net an astonishing 450 times. He is also the all-time leading top scorer internationally.

The Portugal captain was insistent that, despite being one of the best players in football history, he does not want a farewell tour with the national team and it will be a ‘very spontaneous decision’.

“When I leave the national team, I won’t tell anyone beforehand and it will be a very spontaneous decision on my part, but also a well-thought-out one. Right now, what I want most is to help the national team in its upcoming matches. We have the Nations League coming up soon and I would really like to play there,” he added.

In the past, many top players transitioned into coaches, with perhaps the best example being Pep Guardiola, who played for FC Barcelona and went on to become one of the greatest coaches in the game.

In current days, the trend has increased significantly, with Xabi Alonso and Mikel Arteta the prime examples. However, Ronaldo dismissed any talk of him taking a managerial role after retirement.

“In my mind, at the moment, it is not about being a first team coach, or a coach of any team. I don’t see my future being that way. I see myself doing other things outside of football, but only god knows what the future holds,” concluded Ronaldo.

File image of Cristiano Ronaldo.© AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo backed to make Man Utd return© X (Twitter)

Cristiano Ronaldo after Portugal’s defeat against France in Euro 2024.© AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo was inconsolable after Al Nassr’s defeat in King’s Cup final© X (Twitter)

Cristiano Ronaldo broke Saudi League goal-scoring record© AFP