Al-Nassr’s chances of winning the Asian Champions League are increased by Cristiano Ronaldo’s comeback

On Monday, Cristiano Ronaldo will serve his second suspension return and attempt to salvage a winning season for Al-Nassr, leading the Saudi Arabian side to its first-ever Asian Champions League crown.

The 39-year-old was given a one-game suspension last Thursday for allegedly making an inappropriate gesture during a Saudi Arabian league game.

The video seemed to show Ronaldo cupping his ear and repeatedly pushing his palm forward toward his pelvis after a 3-2 victory against Al-Shabab. It looked like the gesture was directed at Al-Shabab supporters.

Due to his penalty, Ronaldo was forced to witness the domestic league match on Thursday from the sidelines, where he watched in frustration as Al-Nassr grabbed the lead four times before losing to bottom club Al-Hazm 4–4 at home.

As a consequence, the team now sits nine points behind leader Al-Hilal in second place in the Saudi Pro League.

Coach Luis Castro of Al-Nassr remarked, “Ronaldo strengthens the team and ensures that the opponent respects you more, but his absence had nothing to do with the result.”

“The truth is that we are giving up too many objectives, and individual errors rather than organizational shortcomings are the cause of the issue.”

“We will be completely focused on the Asian Champions League, so the league result won’t affect our performance there.”

Al-Nassr’s greatest opportunity of winning a trophy this season is via the continental tournament, and the squad travels a short distance to play the opening leg of the quarterfinal against Al-Ain, the 2003 winners from the United Arab Emirates.

Al-Hilal, who has won a record four continental championships, will face 2004 and 2005 winner Al-Ittihad in an all-Saudi Arabia match on Tuesday.

Al-Hilal, who are now leading the Saudi Arabian league, are without Neymar, while Al-Ittihad is holding out hope that star striker Karim Benzema will heal from a calf injury.

On Friday, the two teams played a league match. Ittihad took the lead thanks to former Chelsea player N’Golo Kante, but Al-Hilal rallied for a 3-1 victory to win 25 games in a row in all competitions.

“There is a lot of confidence in the players,” Al-Hilal coach Jorge Jesus said.

“This is a good thing because we have a lot of important games coming up, like the Asian Champions League, where we will need to perform at our highest level against Al-Ittihad.”

The Saudi Arabian champion, Al-Ittihad, is now sixth in the league and has been eliminated from the competition for the domestic crown.

Ahmed Hegazy, a defender for Ittihad, said, “We are moving in the right direction and the Asian Champions League quarterfinal is now the most important game of the season for us.”

“We are focused on this game, even though we know it will be difficult against Al-Hilal.”

The event is divided into two geographical parts until the final. In the eastern zone, Ulsan HD and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are the only teams from South Korea competing. Each of the two teams has two championships.

China’s Shandong Taishan takes on Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos on Wednesday in the final match. The next week is when the second legs are played.