Al Nassr loses first ACL this year without Ronaldo

On Monday, Qatar’s Al Sadd defeated already-qualified Al Nassr 2-1 in injury time in the Asian Champions League (ACL) Elite. Cristiano Ronaldo watched from the stands. The 39-year-old Portuguese star was rested for the Riyadh match after the Saudi club qualified for the knockout stages last week with three rounds of the group phase remaining.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner scored twice against Qatari club Al Gharafa last time out and twice in the Saudi Pro League on Friday. For the Al Sadd encounter, Stefano Pioli omitted the Al Nassr captain.

Ronaldo, who has 15 goals in 18 matches for his club this season, sat with his mother Dolores Aveiro and partner Georgina Rodriguez at Al Awwal Park. Afif, the reigning AFC Player of the Year, ran from the halfway line onto a long ball to give Al Sadd the lead eight minutes into the second half.

Afif beat Mohammed Al Fatil and finished low past Bento. After Al Sadd defender Romain Saiss converted Wesley’s low cross, Al Nassr equalised on 80 minutes. When Afif was tripped inside the hosts’ penalty area, replacement Adam Ounas scored from the spot in the 99th minute, stinging Al Nassr.

Al Nassr remains third in the Western Region group stage after the loss, while Al Sadd moves up to fourth and into the final 16. Even though Al Ahli lost their 100% record in this year’s tournament, an Ivan Toney double secured a 2-2 tie with Esteghlal in Jeddah to keep them top.

Toney scored twice in his second straight Champions League Elite match after scoring twice against Asian champions Al Ain last week.