Cristiano Ronaldo's goal for Al Nassr (YouTube)
Cristiano Ronaldo's team, Al Nassr, will officially have to settle for second place in the Saudi league after Al-Ittihad were crowned champions tonight (between Saturday and Sunday).
Ronaldo's side are five points behind the new champions with just one game remaining. Al-Nassr wanted to create pressure, but only got a draw with Atifaq (1:1), while Al-Ittihad secured the title with a 0-3 win over Al Fayha. The Portuguese was substituted mid-game in pain.
Having only joined the league in January, Ronaldo managed to score 14 goals but failed to sweep his new club to its first title in four years.
Frustrating day. Ronaldo (Photo by GettyImages)
These are probably not easy days for the Portuguese personally. Cristiano's arrival in Saudi Arabia made quite a few headlines after his departure from Manchester United, following a public confrontation with manager Erik ten Hag. But while Ronaldo left no special mark on Saudi Arabia and criticised United, the Old Trafford side finished a pretty good season without him, finishing in the top four.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi, Ronaldo's eternal rival, broke the record held by Portugal on Saturday - the most goals in Europe's top five leagues. Messi scored his 496th career league goal for PSG against Strasbourg. Messi also won the French championship, six months after winning the World Cup with Argentina and being crowned world champion.
In addition, Ronaldo was informed that Zinedine Zidane had turned down an offer to become the new manager of Al Nassr, which offered him €150 million for two years.
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- World Football
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- Cristiano Ronaldo