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Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr faced arch-rivals Al-Hilal in the Saudi Super Cup final on August 17 and both teams got off to a cautious start. However, Ronaldo became the point of difference between the two teams again. He scored right before the halftime whistle in the 44th minute to give the Knights of Najd the lead.
Al-Nassr fielded the usual attacking lineup of Ayman Yahya, Sadio Mane, Anderson Talisca, and Cristiano Ronaldo with a double pivot of Otavio and Abdullah Al-Khaibari in the midfield. Their defensive line was made up of Sultan Al-Ghannam, Ali Lajami, Aymeric Laporte, and Alex Teles with Bento between the sticks.
In the 23rd minute of the game, Ayman Yahya was forced to leave the field with a niggle and was replaced by Abdulrahman Ghareeb. That turned out to be a boon in disguise for Al-Nassr as he was instrumental in setting Cristiano Ronaldo up for the first goal.
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In the 44th minute, Ghareeb received the ball on the left. He completely wrong-footed an Al-Hilal defender to get close to the corner touchline and cross the ball towards Ronaldo. The Portugal talisman wasn't to miss from that range and slotted the ball home. He ran towards the side of the field and unleashed his iconic 'Siu' as the whole stadium joined in to celebrate with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
However, it went in vain as Al-Nassr conceded four goals within 17 minutes to lose 4-1.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr will face Al-Ain in the revamped version of AFC Champions League Elite
Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Nassr were painfully knocked out of the AFC Champions League last season by Al-Ain in the quarter-finals. It came after a thrilling contest that was extended to include penalty shootouts. The scoreline was a thrilling 4-4 before the referee had to invoke the penalty shootouts to separate the two.
The Knights of Najd lost the shootout by a scoreline of 3-1. Al-Ain eventually won the AFC Champions League for the second consecutive time after defeating Yokohama FM in the final by a convincing scoreline of 5-1.
However, Al-Nassr will have the chance to make amends as they face Al-Ain in the league stage of the revamped AFC Champions League Elite this season. Although the date has not been confirmed as of this writing, the fixture will take place at Al-Awwal Park.
They will also face league rivals Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli in the group stages and will aim to win their first AFC Champions League this season. The canary yellow outfit have never won this tournament, making Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad the only two teams in the Saudi Pro League to have achieved this feat.
