After the disappointment of falling in the first serious exam at the hands of Al-Ittihad (1-3) in the Super Cup semi-finals, Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo seeks compensation and leads his new team, Al-Nasr, to stick to the top of the Saudi Football League by defeating Al-Fateh, Friday, in the fifth stage. ten.
Ronaldo started his official career with Al-Nassr, who paid 200 million euros ($217 million) to contract with him, by beating Al-Ettifaq 1-0 in the last stage, but the Portuguese fell in the first serious test at the hands of Al-Ittihad in the semi-finals of the Super Cup, whose title was won by the “Brigadier”. By defeating Al-Fayhaa 2-0 in the final match.
Ronaldo hopes to celebrate his thirty-eighth birthday, which falls on Sunday, in the best way by scoring the first goal in the Saudi League and contributing to keeping Al-Nassr in the lead, which he sits on, with a difference of only one point in front of Al-Hilal and two points in front of Al-Shabab and Al-Ittihad.
Al-Hilal played its match at this stage on the tenth of last month, when it tied with Al-Raed 1-1 in a match presented, due to the participation of “Al-Zaeem” in the Club World Cup in Morocco, whose competitions start on Wednesday.
Ronaldo returned to group training, on Tuesday, after recovering from the injury he sustained during the Al-Ittihad confrontation.
Ronaldo suffered a severe bruise and had to suffice with individual exercises in the gym before returning to group training.
The confrontation, on Friday, will not be easy for victory and Ronaldo on the land of Al-Fateh, who ranks sixth with 21 points.
“It is true that we have heartbreak from losing the Super Cup, but we are still at the top of the league table so far,” said the French coach of Al-Nassr, Rudi Garcia, after the loss in the Super Cup semi-finals.
On Thursday, the last stage will open in the first leg with three matches, where Abha will meet with Al-Khaleej, Al-Shabab with Dhamak, and Al-Batin with Al-Taawon.
youth to continue his awakening
Al-Shabab and its guest Dhamak are seeking a second victory in a row when they meet at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh.
The third youth has 31 points, compared to 21 points for Damac the seventh.
After four matches, during which he did not taste the taste of victory, Al-Shabab regained his balance at the expense of Al-Tai in a match presented in the 18th stage, and he is looking forward to collecting full points to stay in the box to compete for the title, especially since he includes distinguished names in his ranks.
Damak’s situation is no different from his host, after a series of negative results, he succeeded in achieving victory at the expense of Al-Fateh, and he hopes to achieve a positive result against Al-Shabab.
The union is counting on its high morale
Al-Ittihad, who is high on winning the Super Cup, is looking forward to taking advantage of the morale it is in in order to win against its host, Al-Ta’i, when they meet, next Saturday, at Prince Abdulaziz bin Musaed bin Jalawi Stadium.
By winning the Super Cup, Al-Ittihad renewed the date with the titles that it had missed since winning the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup in May 2018.
Al-Ittihad ranks fourth with 31 points, with a goal difference from the third youth, while Al-Ta’i comes in ninth place with 18 points.
The Egyptian, Ahmed Hegazy, captain of the Federation, said after winning the Super Cup, “I am happy with the coronation, and this tournament is the beginning of returning to the podiums with the team. We are going well, and this tournament will give us an incentive to win the next tournaments.”
He added, “We competed for the league title in the past two seasons until the end, and success was not our ally, but with the beginning of this season we pledged to build on what we have reached and set a goal before us, which is to return to the podiums.”
Al-Batin will try to score its first victory in the league when it receives Al-Taawoun.
Al-Batin enters the match and is in last place with 3 points, while Al-Taawun ranks fifth with 27 points.
On Friday, Al-Ettifaq will meet Al-Adala, while Al-Fayhaa will meet Al-Wehda on Saturday, at the end of the stage.