Still with Cristiano Ronaldo as a star scorer and now reinforced by Joao Félix and Kingsley Coman (Sadio Mané is still there), Al-Nassr is launching his season next Tuesday against Al-Ittihad, in the semi-finals of Saudi Arabia Supercoupe, as part of a Delocalized Four Four in Hong Kong. The opportunity for “CR7” to find Karim Benzema, his former companion of Real Madrid, but also to recover the road to Laurent Blanc, N'Golo Kanté or Fabinho (passed by Real in 2012-2013).
Ronaldo has still not won a title in Saudi lands, since Al-Nassr comes out of a disappointing new season. The Riyadh team finished 13 points from the champion al-Ittihad, a year after having counted 14 points less than Al-Hilal. By finishing in third position last spring, Al-Nassr does not compete in the Asian Champions League (the Champions League Elite), but the second AFC competition, entitled Champions League Two.
In this “C2”, there are much fewer clubs in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and Al-Nassr is thus fixed on his group. Al-Zawraa (Iraq), Istiklol (Tadjikistan) and Goa (India) will be the three opponents of the team now led by Jorge Jesus.
Ronaldo, madness in India
The first trip will see Al-Nassr land in Baghdad on October 1, to challenge an al-Zawraa SC which is the most titled club in the country (14 champion titles). Three weeks later, Ronaldo and his teammates will travel outright in western India to face FC Goa. Captain Vedette du Portugal unleashes passions to each of his trips in Asia, but he is a real legend in this region of India, as we noted during the 2022 World Cup, since many workers in Doha are from West India.
Al-Nassr will conclude its group phase against Istiklol, a Tadjik club already met in 2023. In this champions League Two, the western clubs and those of the East are separated in the first round then in the knockout stages, in quarters and half, before a final in a single match. The Emiriens de Sharjah are inspected by the title after defeating the Singaporeans of Lion City Sailors on May 18.
