Cristiano Ronaldo was not involved in the 0-0 of Al-Nassr with Persepolis in the national stadium of Iran at the height of the competition phase of their AFC Champions League campaign.
The Saudi Pro League club shared a stalemate with the Persian Gulf Pro League side on the Azadi Sport complex in Tehran, which has a capacity of more than 78,000.
Croatia International and former Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic was one of the controversial players to start an Al-Nassr side, also lacked star pond names, such as new attacker Jhon Duran.
Two-time African football player of the year Sadio Mane remained an unused replacement and Spain defender Aymeric Laporte came from the bank as part of a return of approximately 2,000 miles for the visitors.
🗒 || Starting Line -Up,@Alnassrfc US #Persepolis pic.twitter.com/xggmji5j1v
– Alnassr FC (@alnassrfc_en) February 17, 2025
Cristiano Ronaldo: Why did he not play versus Persepolis?
Al-Nassr rested players because they had already qualified for the round of 16, giving their captain a break after he played for 76 minutes in their 3-2 Saudi-Pro League win in Al-Ahli on Thursday.
Ronaldo’s official YouTube channel, which has nearly 74 million subscribers, streamed the Riyad Premier Padel Finals while Al-Nassr played.
“Become a member of Cristiano Ronaldo in this great event, after his new passion,” said the description of the stream, promising commentary of the five -time balloon d’Or winner of the ever -popular racket sport that is played on a smaller court than tennis.
Organizers called the stream a “historic world-first moment” and a “unique collaboration to elevate and promote Padel players worldwide”.
Ronaldo Champions League statistics
Ronaldo has six goals in the AFC Champions League of this season, since the 40-year-old adds to his lonely trophy since he came to Al-Nassr at the beginning of 2023 and that year won the Arab Club Champions Cup.
Four of those goals have entered the competition in his last three performances and scored twice every way to Qatari opponents al-Gharafa on November 25 and at home at the Emirati team al-Wasl on 3 February.
Al-Nassr finishes third and plays the team that is sixth in their West regional table in the round of 16, with the first legs planned between 3-5 March and the return games the next week.
They were beaten on penalties by the Emirati team Al Ain last season in the quarterfinals in Ronaldo’s first experience with the competition.
He won the 2007/08 Champions League in Europe with Manchester United and repeated the performance four times between 2014 and 2018 with Real Madrid.
Al-Ahli and reigning Saudi champions Al-Hilal compete for the top position in the Al-Nassr group and have one more game to play.
Al-Nassr Host al-Etifaq on Friday (5 pm GMT) in their domestic top flight. They are third or eight points behind leaders Al-Eittihad.
