Is Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Al-Nassr against Al-Shabab tonight?

Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to start when Al-Nassr take on Al-Shabab in the Arab Club Champions Cup on Friday (28 July) at the King Fahd International Stadium. This will be the first competitive game Ronaldo plays in the 2023-24 season.

Ronaldo and Al-Nassr were recently in Japan and played European giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Inter Milan in pre-season friendlies. Both games ended in a draw with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner failing to make a goalscoring contribution in either game.

Cristiano Ronaldo, however, remains an important figure in the Al-Nassr lineup and should start against Al-Shabab on Friday. The Portugal superstar could be partnered alongside Anderson Talisca and Abdulrahman Ghareeb in attack. The trio started the previous two friendly games against PSG and Inter Milan together and should therefore continue their partnership against Al-Shabab.

The Arab Club Champions Cup is an annual tournament played amongst clubs who come from nations in the Union of Arab Football Associations. Luis Castro's side have been drawn in Group C of the tournament along with rivals Al-Shabab, Zamalek from Egypt, and Union Sportive Monastirienne from Tunisia. The top two teams from the group will advance to the knockout stages.

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How did Al-Nassr star Cristiano Ronaldo perform against Al-Shabab last season?

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr on a free transfer in late-December last season after his contract with Manchester United was terminated with mutual consent. The Portugal skipper went on to play just once against Al-Shabab last season.

Ronaldo formed part of the team which secured a 3-2 victory over Al-Shabab in the Saudi Pro League last season. The former Real Madrid superstar netted the winning goal on that occasion after Al-Nassr found themselves 2-0 down after 40 minutes. Anderson Talisca and Abdulrahman Ghareeb brought the game back to 2-2 before Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner in the 59th minute.

Ronaldo had a decent outing against Al-Shabab in that game. He took four shots, with two of them being off target. He even hit the woodwork once. Ronaldo also had 38 touches in the entire match and ended with a pass accuracy of 86%. He did, however, lose possession 11 times and caught offisde twice over the course of the game.

Cristiano Ronaldo ended his first season in Saudi Arabia with 14 goals and two assists from 19 matches across all competitions. However, he failed to win a single trophy with his new side last season.