SUMMARY
- Al-Nassr was eliminated from the AFC Champions League after loosing against Al-Ain.
- The score was 3-3 by the end of the full time. During penalty shootouts, Al-Nassr lost by 3-1.
The Cristiano Ronaldo-led Al Nassr suffered a humiliating elimination from the AFC Champions League at the hands of Al-Ain in March 2024. The team was hoping to pull off a comeback in the 2nd leg of the Quarter Finals and qualify for the subsequent round but was let down by some individual performances.
Among them, CR7’s performance on the night duly disappointed the Al-Nassr fans. The Portuguese captain had a brilliant chance to equalize on the aggregate from just three yards away. But surprisingly the 38-year-old could not connect with the ball properly as he scuffed the finish.
— Out Of Context Football (@nocontextfooty) March 12, 2024
Fans on social media platform X could not believe their eyes when they saw the clip of the miss. Most of them trolled the former Real Madrid player immensely for letting his team down.
The user ‘MIKE’ wrote, “Tbh he’s beyond finished , he should retire at this point cuz what was that miss 😂😂😂.” The user does not believe that CR7 is at his optimal level anymore and therefore should consider retiring. While, ‘Mondaylee’ wrote, “Even Darwin Nunez won’t miss that.”
X user ‘the boy prince’ took a similar road by commenting, “Even my child would’ve scored that from her mother womb.” However, it looked like ‘PRINCE RICHIE’ was the only person who had something meaningful to offer. The user wrote, “It’s a mistake it happens in football.”
(Image Credits-Goal.com)
The fans need to understand that soccer games are quite high-voltage which can make even the most elite players like Cristiano Ronaldo make silly blunders. But that does not allow them to troll the players mercilessly, as it might impact their mental health.
Al Nassr crashes out of the AFC Champions League after losing to Al-Ain
The Saudi side lost on penalties 3-1 and therefore had to bid adieu to their continental aspirations for the 23/24 season. Al-Nassr had already lost the first leg to Al-Ain 1-0 and were also down 2-0 in the first 45 minutes.
But, the Saudi side then slowly started to crawl back into the game, with Abdulrahman Ghareeb scoring the club’s first goal of the night in the 5th minute of the first half’s additional time. For some reason, the whole Al-Nassr team did not look impressed with the referee, presumably wanting some extra minutes in the first half.
Al-Nassr then scored two additional goals in the 2nd half via an own goal by the Al-Ain goalkeeper and a free kick by Alex Telles. The comeback was almost complete as Al-Nassr managed to tie the aggregate score 3-3 at the end of the 90 minutes. The match then went on to the extra time where Al-Ain forward Sultan Al-Shamsi profited from a goalkeeping howler by Al-Nassr.
Cristiano Ronaldo then calmly finished a penalty in the dying moments of the extra time, but to no avail. The match went on to penalties as no Al-Nassr player apart from their captain could convert their chances. Al-Nassr lost 3-1 in the penalty shootout and will miss an opportunity to win their maiden AFC Champions League title.
Cristiano Ronaldo looked motivated for a comeback before the match
The Portuguese however had high hopes for qualifying into the next round. CR7 is no stranger to comebacks in knockout tournaments. Cristiano Ronaldo has been instrumental in many famous comeback victories, especially during his time with Real Madrid. Even before the Al-Ain game, Cristiano had proudly announced about what he wanted on the night.
The Portuguese cried, “Remontada, Inshallah” in a pre-match press conference motivating the entire Al-Nassr fanbase. But, it looked like his teammates let the Portuguese down in the game. It is apparent that Cristiano Ronaldo too is partly to blame for the loss due to his catastrophic miss in the 2nd half. But, the Portuguese still did not look demotivated during the game.
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CRISTIANO RONALDO:
“Remontada, Inshallah.”
— The CR7 Timeline. (@TimelineCR7) March 10, 2024
He still had the composure to convert a penalty in the 118th minute, and also score another one in the penalty shootout. But, his teammates succumbed to the game’s pressure, as they all failed to score a single penalty in the shootout.
It looked like Cristiano Ronaldo did not enjoy playing against the Emirati side at all. The Portuguese suffered an embarrassing moment in the first leg of the QFs against Al-Ain.
One another talking point of the game is the atrocious performance of the two goalkeepers. Both Al-Nassr and Al-Ain’s goalkeeper did not look convincing with their saves and lacked confidence. The two keepers made terrible errors which cost their respective teams dearly. The Asian teams need to level up their performance in the continental competition since the AFC Champions League is the premier showpiece of Asian soccer.
