Is Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Al-Nassr against Inter Miami tonight?

Cristiano Ronaldo will not take part when Al-Nassr take on Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in a friendly game on Thursday, February 1. The Portugal superstar has not yet recovered from his calf injury, which will keep him out of the highly anticipated game.

Al-Nassr manager Luis Castro recently confirmed that Ronaldo will not feature in the game on Thursday. The manager was quoted as saying (via the Daily Mail):

"Ronaldo is in the final part of his recovery to join the group. We hope that in the next few days you can start working with the team. He will be absent from the game."

The Saudi Pro League was on a winter break with Al-Nassr last playing a competitive game back on December 30 against Al-Taawoun, which they won 4-1. The Knights of Najd were scheduled to travel to China to play a couple of friendly games during the break.

The tour, however, was cancelled due to Cristiano Ronaldo's injury. The Riyadh-based side will be hoping that their star attacker returns to full fitness when the team returns to competitive action in February.

Luis Castro's side will have to start their preparations for the second half of the 2023-24 season without Ronaldo's services. They play Inter Miami and Al-Hilal in two friendly games before returning to competitive action against Al-Fahya in the Round of 16 of the AFC Champions League.

Ronaldo's absence will be a huge blow to football fans who were anticipating yet another classic face-off between himself and Lionel Messi. The duo last played against one another in a friendly game last year when Messi's Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) traveled to Saudi Arabia to play against the Riyadh All-Stars.

Cristiano Ronaldo lead the attack for the Riyadh All-Stars XI and went on to score a brace. PSG, however, secured victory in an outstanding game which ended 5-4. Messi opened the scoring for the French giants on that occasion.

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How has Cristiano Ronaldo performed for Al-Nassr this season?

Cristiano Ronaldo is enjoying as excellent first full season in Saudi Arabia. The Portugal skipper is playing a crucial role in Al-Nassr's title challenge against Al-Hilal, in which they currently find themselves seven points behind the league leaders.

As things stand, Ronaldo has scored 24 goals and provided 11 assists in 25 matches across all competitions. This includes a tally of 20 goals and nine assists from 18 appearances in the Saudi Pro League.

It is worth mentioning that Cristiano Ronaldo is not only Al-Nassr's leading goalscorer this season but also leads the assists charts. He is also the leading goalscorer in the league so far this season, three goals clear of Aleksandar Mitrovic.