After going down early, Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and team were unable to claw all the way back
After going down early, Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and team were unable to claw all the way back
The final for the AFC Champions League is set and it won’t include Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr after they lost 3-2 to Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale in front of their home fans. Kawasaki went ahead 2-1 during the first half, and it was a lead that they wouldn’t let up on. Kawasaki went ahead only 10 minutes into the clash via a goal from Tatsuya Ito before Sadio Mane hit back eight minutes later.
The J League side wouldn’t let Al-Nasser stay level for long with another goal in the 41st minute before Akihiro Ienaga gave his team a two goal lead. Al Nassr pushed for an equalizer with Ayman Yahya scoring in the 87th minute, but despite taking 21 shots and putting six on target, they were unable to push for extra time. Ronaldo had a chance at the death to try and bring Al-Nassr level, but despite rounding the keeper, he wasn’t able to get a shot on target before a Kawasaki defender was there to clear the danger and secure victory.
After they were knocked out all Ronaldo could do is shrug and shake his head as another chance for silverware went by the wayside for his team. Al-Nassr were successful in winning the Arab Club Champions Cup in 2023 to give Ronaldo his first team silverware with the team, but in the Saudi Pro League and AFC Champions League, they have struggled despite Ronaldo’s scoring.
Currently, Al-Nassr sits third in the Saudi Pro League but they are eight points adrift of Al-Ittihad. With only five matches remaining in the season, they’ll need to win out and hope for some help in order to catch Al-Ittihad. Ronaldo is the current leader for the Golden Boot with 23 goals, but it hasn’t been enough to move to first in the league.
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