On Tuesday evening, Al Nassr hosted Shabab Al Ahli in the Asian Champions League play-off. In a more challenging match than anticipated, Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammates secured victory (4-2) and qualified for the group stage of the competition.
The Saudi club based in Riyadh started the match on the right foot with a quick opening goal by Anderson Talisca, assisted by Marcelo Brozovic (1-0, 11th minute). However, the rest of the match was going to prove more complicated for Al Nassr. Indeed, Yahya Al Ghassani’s brace (18th, 46th minute) allowed Shabab Al Ahli to lead for the majority of the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammates were even close to elimination, but Sultan Al Ghannam brought them back into the game (2-2, 88th minute). Right after, Anderson Talisca completed his own brace (3-2, 94th minute) to break the deadlock, and Marcelo Brozovic (4-2, 96th minute) sealed the victory for his team. Thanks to this hard-fought win, Al Nassr is indeed set to compete in the group stage of the AFC Champions League.
After the match, Cristiano Ronaldo took to social media to react to his team’s victory. Although he acknowledged the difficulty of the game, he emphasized the qualification of his team. “Tough match, but an important victory to qualify for the Asian Champions League! Always believe until the end! Never give up,” he wrote.
