Ronaldo missing as Saudi club Al-Nassr wins in Asian Champions League 2 but ‘set to return’
Portuguese superstar seen back in training after being absent for three matches amid reports he is unhappy with how the club is being run
Cristiano Ronaldo missed his third consecutive game for Al-Nassr as the Saudi Arabian club defeated Arkadag FC of Turkmenistan 1-0 on Wednesday in the first leg of the round of 16 in the AFC Champions League Two, but will reportedly return to the field this weekend.
Abdullah Al-Hamdan scored the only goal of the game in Asia’s second-tier competition to put Al-Nassr in control ahead of next week’s return match in Riyadh.
Ronaldo – who has yet to win a major trophy since joining Al-Nassr in December 2022 – has been absent amid reports that he was unhappy with how the club was being run by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which also owns Riyadh rival Al-Hilal and Jeddah clubs Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad.
However, an ESPN report said the Portuguese star had decided to end his boycott of Al-Nassr games and was planning to return to play against Al-Fateh on Saturday.
He was pictured training with other players back in Riyadh in a post on Al-Nassr’s social media accounts on Wednesday morning.
In the AFC Champions League Elite, Asia’s premier club tournament, Algeria international Houssem Aouar scored a hat trick as Al-Ittihad routed Al-Gharafa of Qatar 7-0 in the penultimate round of group stage games.