Five-time «Ballon d'Or» winner Cristiano will most likely take part in the second leg of the 1/8 finals of the AFC-2 Champions League between «Al-Nassr» and «Arkadag», which will take place on the 18th of February in Riyadh. Foreign media reports this.
The 41-year-old Portuguese star returned to his team after missing two Saudi Arabian league games against «Al-Riyadh» (on the 2nd of February) and «Al-Ittihad» (on the 6th of February), as well as the first match against Turkmen side «Arkadag» on the 11th of February in Ashgabat.
According to media reports, Ronaldo boycotted the games due to dissatisfaction with the management of club and the lack of investment from the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund compared to rival clubs «Al-Hilal», «Al-Ittihad», and «Al-Ahli». There were also reports of delays in salary payments to a number of club employees. After the management paid off all debts, the Portuguese agreed to continue playing for the team.
Cristiano Ronaldo made his return to the field in the away match of the 22nd round of the Saudi Arabian Championship, in which «Al-Nassr» beat «Al-Fateh» 2:0, extending their winning streak to eight matches in all competitions.
All key players, including Sadio Mane, Mohamed Simakan, Iñigo Martínez, Kingsley Coman, Marcelo Brozovic and João Félix, have already taken to the field for the match against «Al-Fateh», indicating that the team is fully mobilised ahead of the second international match.
In the first 15 minutes of the game, Ronaldo had two shots, but both times the ball went wide of the goal. The player managed to score in the 18th minute. Mane passed the ball into the central area, after which Cristiano directed a shot from close range into the right corner. This goal was the 962nd in the career of Ronaldo on his way to reaching 1000 goals.
The final score of the match was set in the 78th minute by Ayman Yahya, who took advantage of a brilliant pass from Coman and with a superb shot from outside the penalty area smashed the ball under the crossbar.
At the very end, when the question of the winner had already been resolved, the star Portuguese went on as a substitute, and after the final whistle, he received the award for the best player of the match.
After this victory, the team from Riyadh is in second place in the Saudi League standings with 52 points, one point behind the leaders «Al-Hilal». The leading striker of «Al-Nassr», C. Ronaldo, shares second place in the race of top scorers of the league with Julian Quiñones («Al-Qadsiah»), with both scoring 18 times. First place remains with Ivan Toney (20) from «Al Ahly».
Speaking about the upcoming return match between «Al-Nassr» and «Arkadag» in Riyadh, the influential largest American multimedia company ESPN, specialising in sports content, reports that club of Cristiano Ronaldo will meet with the Turkmen team, which has never lost a single national match in its history.
«FC «Arkadag» boasts an amazing record: in its entire history, the players of this team have not lost a single point in the national championship. Since the club was founded in April 2023, they have won all 82 championship matches and have become Turkmenistan champions three times in a row», − says on the ESPN website.
At the same time, the publication emphasises that this football club, representing the «smart» city of Arkadag, was created on the initiative of the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Hero-Arkadag. The article notes that the dream team is made up of local talent, which is a significant advantage.
The players of «Arkadag» have already arrived in the capital of Saudi Arabia and held a training session at the Prince Abdulrahman bin Saud Stadium ahead of the second leg, which will begin at 23:15 Ashgabat time.
Remind that in the first match, which took place in Ashgabat at the Olympic stadium, FC «Arkadag» lost to the second team of «Al-Nassr», who played without the star players, 0:1. Abdullah Al-Hamdan scored the winning goal in the 19th minute after a pass from Gabriel Angelo.
The winner of the two-legged match between these teams will play the winner of the «Al-Zawraa» (Iraq) – «Al-Wasl» (UAE) pair in the quarterfinals. In the other quarterfinals of the Western Zone, the winners of the pairs «Foolad Mobareke Sepahan» (Iran) – «Al-Ahli» (Qatar) and «Esteghlal» (Iran) – «Al-Hussein» (Jordan) will meet.
