“Is this a farm or a stadium?” – Persepolis star on how Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr reacted to ground condition for AFC Champions League game

Persepolis winger Omid Alishah has shared how Cristiano Ronaldo-led Al-Nassr reacted to the poor pitch conditions in their clash on Tuesday (September 19).

Iranian side Persepolis hosted Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr in their first clash of this season's AFC Champions League group stage on Tuesday at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran.

Ahead of the game, a video emerged showing the poor condition of the pitch, with patchy grass and even gaps in between. Despite the responsible company claiming that the pitch was repaired, the video showed otherwise.

It was a major concern as both sets of players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, could have faced serious injuries on the surface. Even Persepolis players were embarrassed at the state of the pitch as Alishah said (via Essentially Sports):

“It was shameful for us to face a big team like Al Nassr with its stars on this field. The Nasraans were asking us: Is this a farm or a stadium?”

Nevertheless, the game went on as planned, and, thankfully, no player of either team got injured. Cristiano Ronaldo played the entire 90 minutes before getting substituted in stoppage time.

Al-Nassr, meanwhile, won 2-0, courtesy of Danial Esmaeilifar's own goal in the 62nd minute and a strike by Mohammed Qassem 10 minutes later. Persepolis defender Milad Sarlak was sent off in the 52nd minute after a second yellow card.

In their next AFC Champions League game, Al-Nassr take on Tajikistan-based Istikol on October 2 while Persepolis take on Qatari side Al-Duhail on the same day.

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Cristiano Ronaldo is in excellent form this season despite drawing a blank against Persepolis

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner joined Al-Nassr in December last year after parting ways with Manchester United a month ago. He has since scored 21 goals and provided seven assists in 26 games across competitions.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been in exceptional form in his first full season in Saudi Arabia. He started the campaign with a blank against Al-Taawoun but provided a goal contribution in all other games before facing Persepolis.

The Portuguese icon scored a hat-trick and provided an assist against Al-Fateh in the Saudi Pro League before contributing a brace and an assist against Al-Shabab. He then registered a goal and two assists against Al-Hazm and one goal against Al-Raed.

Cristiano Ronaldo also provided an assist in Al-Nassr's AFC Champions League playoff win over Shabab Al-Ahli. Luis Castro's side next face Al-Ahli Saudi in the league on Friday (September 22).