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Al-Nassr fans have reacted in disappointment on X after Luis Castro named Cristiano Ronaldo's teammate Ayman Yahya ahead of Abdulrahman Ghareeb in the starting XI to face Al-Hilal. The Portugal ace will get a chance to lift his first official trophy of the season in the King Cup of Champions final. The King Abdullah Sports City will host the clash later today (Friday, May 31).
The Knights of Najd's season was heavily impacted in March after Anderson Talisca was ruled out for the rest of the season due to a thigh injury. The Brazilian winger had netted 25 goals in as many appearances and made a similar impact to Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch. Both Yahya and Ghareeb have struggled to replicate this form in his place.
Al-Nassr were knocked out of the Saudi Super Cup and AFC Champions League, as well as finishing runners-up to Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League. They will now be aiming to exact revenge upon their local rivals.
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David Ospina starts in goal for tonight's final. Sultan Al-Ghannam, Abdulelah Al-Amri, Ali Lajami, and Alex Telles make up the defense. The midfield consists of Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Marcelo Brozovic, and Otavio. Ayman Yahya, Sadio Mane, and Cristiano Ronaldo start up front to complete Al-Nassr's XI.
Fans have conveyed their displeasure over Yahya's inclusion. The 23-year-old has scored two goals and provided seven assists in 30 appearances, which is significantly lower than Ghareeb's eight goals and 11 assists in 38 appearances.
One fan posted:
"Ayman doesn’t really produce much"
"Ayman yaha & lajami will be our downfall ong"
Other reactions can be viewed below:
"Ayman? Wtf. Ghareeb should start", one fan insisted
"WHY YAHYA", one fan exclaimed
"Ayman is not good at creating and scoring", another pointed out
"Ayman defensively is better than ghareeb, ghareeb should start on the second half", one fan defended Yahya
"Ayman over ghareeb dude", one fan posted
"Ghareeb man he is tons better in build up broo luis castro u need to go", another added
What happened the last time Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr faced Al-Hilal?
Cristiano Ronaldo will be hoping to inspire Al-Nassr to silverware against rivals Al-Hilal later tonight. The last time these two sides faced each other (Friday, May 17), the game ended in a controversial 1-1 draw in the Saudi Pro League.
Otavio gave Faris Najd an early lead in the first minute, delighting the home crowd. Al-Nassr were defensively sound for most of the game. However, they suffered a massive blow in the dying minutes after Al-Hilal were rewarded a questionable penalty following Sadio Mane fouled Saud Abdulhamid. Aleksandar Mitrovic netted a penalty in the 10th minute of stoppage time to ensure Al-Hilal ended the season unbeaten.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. haven't had the best of fortunes against Al-Hilal in other official games this season. They lost the reverse fixture 3-0 and the Saudi Super Cup semi-finals by a scoreline of 2-1.
