Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr dealt massive blow as 30-year-old superstar ruled out for the rest of the season after picking up injury

Cristiano Ronaldo's reliable strike partner at Al-Nassr, Anderson Talisca has been ruled out for the rest of the 2023-24 season after picking up an injury, according to Al-Riyadiah.

This comes as a huge blow for the Saudi outfit as they enter the business end of the season and are still in the hunt to win silverware. They are currently in the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League and second in the Saudi Pro League, nine points behind leaders Al-Hilal.

According to the aforementioned source, Talisca has picked up an anterior muscular injury which will keep him on the sidelines for at least seven weeks.

Anderson Talisca has gone toe to toe with Cristiano Ronaldo and has scored some vital goals for Al-Nassr this season. In their most recent league game against Al-Hazem when Ronaldo was suspended, Talisca netted a hat-trick as his side drew 4-4.

Talisca, however, did miss the first leg of his side's Champions League quarterfinals against Al-Ain on Monday (March 4) which they lost 1-0. He is now set to miss a host of games in the second half of the 2023-24 and is out for the whole campaign.

While Cristiano Ronaldo remains Al-Nassr's leading goalscorer this season, Anderson Talisca is not too far behind. The Portuguese has contributed 28 goals and 11 assists from 30 matches this season. Talisca, on the other hand, has scored 25 goals and provided four assists from 25 games.

While the Brazilian would be a huge miss, manager Luis Castro still has a host of attacking options to choose from to replace him. Sadio Mane is still available for selection and has had a decent first season in Saudi Arabia scoring 13 goals this season.

Other attacking options include the likes of Ayman Yahya and Sami Al-Najei.

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How have Cristiano Ronaldo and Anderson Talisca performed together on the pitch for Al-Nassr?

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr on a free transfer back in December 2022 and was immediately partnered alongside Anderson Talisca in attack. Despite their individual success, the pair have not had many joint goal contributions.

At the time of writing, Talisca and Ronaldo have only had six joint goal contributions despite playing 34 matches together. Both attackers have assisted the other on three separate occasions over the past year.

Their most recent combined contribution came back in October 2023 when Al-Nassr secured a 3-1 win over Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro League. Cristiano Ronaldo assisted Talisca on that occasion as the latter netted a brace.