Cristiano Ronaldo-led Al-Nassr bowed out of the AFC Champions League after a penalty shootout defeat against UAE side Al-Ain in the quarter-finals on Monday, March 11.
Al Nassr had lost 1-0 in the first leg at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium on March 4. They still came into the second leg at the Al-Awwal Park as favorites due to their star-studded squad. However, it started wrong for the Saudi Arabian side.
Cristiano Ronaldo apologizes to Al Nassr fans
Soufiane Rahimi gave Al-Ain the lead in the 28th minute before doubling it in the 45th minute. Abdulrahman Ghareeb got one goal back for Al Nassr in the first-half stoppage time, keeping them in the game.
Khalid Elisa then scored an own goal after some good work from Otavio in the 51st minute before Alex Telles made it 3-3 on aggregate with a freekick in the 72nd minute. During the regular 90 minutes, Cristiano Ronaldo missed a huge chance to score. A shot was saved from Al-Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa but it fell straight to Ronaldo, who shockingly missed an open goal from three yards out.
The game eventually went into extra time, which rained further issues for Al Nassr. Ayman Yahya was sent off in the 98th minute before Sultan Al-Shamsi scored for Al-Ain in the 103rd minute.
Cristiano Ronaldo then scored via a penalty in the 118th minute to make it 4-4. During the celebration of the goal, he was seen apologizing to the Al Nassr fans for his previous miss and general performance.
With the game level, it went into a penalty shootout. Ronaldo was the only Al Nassr player to score from the spot as Marcelo Brozovic, Alex Telles, and Otavio all failed to convert. The Knights of Njad lost 1-3 in the shootout and consequently, were eliminated from the AFC Champions League.
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A look at Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2023-24 season so far
Cristiano Ronaldo surprised everyone when he moved to Saudi Arabia to join Al Nassr in December 2022 after parting ways with Manchester United. He had a decent first season with the Knights of Njad, scoring 14 goals and providing two assists in 19 games.
Ronaldo has certainly stepped his levels up this season, scoring 29 goals and providing 11 assists in 32 games across competitions.
However, Al Nassr have been eliminated from the AFC Champions League and are unlikely to win the Saudi Pro League as well. They are 12 points behind leaders Al Hilal in the league.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. still have a chance to win a trophy this season, though. They are set to face Al Hilal in the King’s Cup semi-finals in April.