Cristiano Ronaldo sends messege to Al-Nassr fans after Al-Hilal draw

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo recently took to social media to send a message to his fans after Al-Nassr played a 1-1 draw again against Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League on Friday (November 1). The former Real Madrid star wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Al-Nassr are in the race for the title.

He also thanked all his supporters at the Al-Awwal Park. Ronaldo wrote:

"The battle is far from over. Thank you all for the support today."

Anderson Talisca broke the deadlock early and scored in the match's first minute for Al-Nassr. The Knights of Najd maintained the lead in the first half. However, Serbia's Sergej Milinkovic-Savic scored the equalizer for Al-Hilal in the 77th minute with the help of an assist from Renan Lodi.

Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo didn't enjoy a favorable home game. The 39-year-old maintained a passing accuracy of 85% (29/34) and created one chance. He only had one shot on target, which Yassine Bounou saved. Ronaldo won only one of the six duels, completed none of the three dribbles, and also got a yellow card in the added time of the first half.

The Portuguese captain is the third-highest scorer in the Saudi Pro League this season with six goals and two assists in eight appearances. Aleksandar Mitrovic is the current leader with 10 goals in nine matches, while Karim Benzema is second with eight strikes in eight games.

Al-Nassr boss Stefano Paoli backs Cristiano Ronaldo after 1-1 draw against Al-Hilal

Al-Nassr boss Stefano Paoli has affirmed that he's satisfied with Cristiano Ronaldo's performance against Al-Hilal on Friday in the Saudi Pro League clash. The former AC Milan boss said it was a strong match for both sides and the Portuguese forward gave a decent performance.

Stefano Paoli said in the post-match press conference (via @TheNassrZone):

"Today we played a good match technically and also on the fitness level, and all the players were at their best and Cristiano did that was required of him in the match and I am satisfied with the performance."

He added:

"It was a strong match for both teams and it was an enjoyable match. What happened today is an application of the methodology we train on in training. We played a good and strong match. We were closer to winning and deserved the win, but luck was not on our side."

Al-Nassr maintained 51% ball possession during the match, taking 10 shots and completing 293 passes with an accuracy of 79%. Meanwhile, Al-Hilal had 49% ball possession at Al-Awwal Park. They took 11 shots and completed 294 passes with an accuracy of 81%.

The Knights of Najd are third on the SPL table with five wins and four draws in nine matches. Next up, they will host Al-Ain at Al-Awwal Park in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday (November 5).