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Ronaldo suffers biggest loss with Al Nassr in Asian CL rout

Al Nassr began their Asian Champions League Elite journey with a crushing 4-0 thrashing against UAE side Al Ain, marking the most lopsided loss for Cristiano Ronaldo since his arrival at the Saudi club. Houssine Rahimi broke the deadlock in the 25th minute and found the net once more shortly past the hour mark for the two-time tournament champions.

His brother, Soufiane Rahimi, netted a third goal with 18 minutes remaining before assisting Georgios Giakoumakis for the final tally. The 41-year-old Ronaldo, chasing the 980th goal of his career, saw a late set piece denied by keeper Khalid Eisa, sealing his worst defeat since Manchester United fell 4-0 to Brentford in August 2022.

Manager Ange Postecoglou absorbed full blame for the collapse, acknowledging an entirely subpar team showing that leaves the domestic champions with just a solitary victory across their previous four fixtures.

Elsewhere in the regional tournament's opening round, other Saudi Arabian sides experienced varied fortunes. Al Hilal secured a 2-1 triumph over Qatari club Al Gharafa, with Ruben Neves scoring a penalty late in the opening half after red cards were shown to both sides, followed by a second-half decider from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.