Al-Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo is facing backlash again from a manager. This time it is his new coach Rudi Garcia. The Portuguese star missed a couple of important chances in Al-Nassr’s cup clash against Al-Ittihad. Garcia claimed that Ronaldo’s misses altered the course of the match in their opposition’s favor. Al-Ittihad won the match comfortably 3-1 and advanced to the Saudi Sup Cup final as Al-Nassr bowed out.
The Portuguese star’s woes seem to have no end. He has not had the desired start to his life in Saudi Arabia since Al-Nassr announced his signing last month with a bumper contract of over $200 million a year. After not scoring against Al-Ittihad, Ronaldo has drawn a blank in his second straight game.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner had a couple of chances to score but Al-Ittihad seemed to have done their homework to keep him at bay. Before Al Ittihad’s second goal, however, Ronaldo had a glorious chance to draw Al-Nassr level. His header was saved by the opposition goalkeeper.
🎙️ Rudi Garcia on Al-Nassr’s Cup defeat: “One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano Ronaldo’s miss in the first half.” 🇸🇦 pic.twitter.com/R7wTDCZ9Ja
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) January 27, 2023
After the match, Garcia put blame on that missed chance by Ronaldo. He believed it was one of the reasons for losing the match. “One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano Ronaldo’s missed opportunity in the first half,” he said.
“I congratulate Al-Ittihad. They presented a much better first half than us, and we played a good second half, but unfortunately, we were not able to adjust the result,” he added.
In the match, Al-Ittihad scored two first-half goals through Romarinho and Abderrazak Hamdallah. Al-Nassr’s Anderson Talisca scored in the 67th minute. However, it was not enough as Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti added the third in stoppage time.
Rudi Garcia was all praise for Cristiano Ronaldo after his debut a few days ago
Just a few days ago, on January 23, 2023, Ronaldo made his official debut for Al-Nassr. The Saudi Pro League match was against Al-Ettifaq. Ronaldo started the match as captain with much fanfare. Talisca scored the only goal of the game as Al-Nassr won the match 1-0.
After the match, Garcia told reporters, “It’s a positive addition when you have a player like Ronaldo as he helps to distract the defenders, which is what happened with our goal”.
Rudi Garcia [Al Nassr coach]:
“Cristiano Ronaldo is a positive addition, as he helps to disperse defenders, as happened in the goal. He is one of the best players in the world.” pic.twitter.com/viwZoEiipN
— The CR7 Timeline. (@TimelineCR7) January 23, 2023
“Today we created opportunities for him and asked the players to diversify the game between him and Talisca, and we must not forget that he participated in the [exhibition match against] Paris St. Germain and did not get enough rest.
“Even with the presence of Ronaldo, it is not easy to win the Saudi League because of … the strength of the competitors.”
Al-Nassr travels to face Al Fateh in the Saudi Pro League on Friday, February 3, 2023. Al-Nassr leads the league with 33 points. Their closest rivals Al-Hilal are a point behind, however, Al-Hilal has played a game more.
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