Home

Soccer

Cristiano Ronaldo Takes Early Shot at Redemption After Facing Ban for Al Nassr’s Next Fixtures

Published 04/13/2024, 4:42 AM EDT

Follow Us

The last week has been quite eventful for Al Nassr. The Saudi giants once again came up short against Al Hilal and consequently bowed out of the Saudi Super Cup. Notably, Captain Cristiano Ronaldo received a red card and was sent off in the closing stages. Since it was a domestic competition, CR7 is set to miss the next two games for the Knights of Najd. Yet, the incident hasn’t seemed to dampen his spirits and the Portuguese star is already working to set things back straight for the team.

As per his latest update on Instagram, Cristiano Ronaldo is seen training with the team. The attacker is set out to miss out on the games against Al Feiha (19th April) and Al-Khaleej (27th April). This means Ronaldo’s return to action will be the King Cup Semi-final against Al Khaleej on May 1st. Can CR7 redeem himself for the subpar performance in the Saudi Super Cup?

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Against Al Hilal, Cristiano Ronaldo’s elbow against Al-Bulayhi dominated the news. Hence Ronaldo’s performance went under the radar. In 86 minutes, CR7 completed just 15 passes while missing one big chance in front of goal. Furthermore, he also was offside when Otavio had the ball in the net. It was a match where nothing went right for the legendary star.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

As a result, a victory in the King Cup could offer Al Nassr a straight shot at silverware. They will face Al Hilal/Al Ittihad in the final. Consequently, the King Cup along with a strong finish in the league could serve as redemption for CR7. But with Al Hilal 12 points ahead, can the soccer icon inspire his side to a fabled finish?

Can Cristiano Ronaldo & Co pip Al Hilal to the league?

To keep things straight, Al Nassr’s remaining fixtures in the league are trickier than what awaits Jorge Jesus & Co. Al Nassr has two heavyweight encounters left against Al Ittihad and Al Hilal respectively. While Luis Castro has seen the better of  Karim Benzema’s side recently, Al Hilal is a different proposition altogether. In all three matches against the Saudi leaders this campaign, Cristiano Ronaldo & Co always ended up on the losing end.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

via Reuters

As it stands, Al Hilal has to lose at least 4 games out of their remaining 7 for the Knights of Najd to have any semblance of hope. But even then, Al Nassr still has to win all of their remaining 7 matches. Moreover, even if Al Hilal and Al Nassr end up on the same points, the advantage lies with Al Hilal. They boast of a superior GD (46 vs 66) and H2H record. Hence, while anything is possible in soccer, winning the league looks mountain too high to climb, even for a time with the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo.

Trending

Get instantly notified of the hottest Soccer stories via Google! Click on Follow Us and Tap the Blue Star.

Follow Us

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Adithya Narayanan

548Articles

One take at a time

Adithya is a Soccer Writer at EssentiallySports. A Liverpool fanboy, he takes pride in being alive to witness Jurgen Klopp taking the Reds to domestic and European glory. Adithya loves an in-depth soccer chat involving tactical intricacies and stats.
Show More>

Edited by:

Sreeda U M