On the morning of May 24, Ronaldo’s Al-Riyadh welcomed AL Nassr Riyadh at home in the Saudi Arabian Championship with a disappointing 2-2 draw. Ronaldo slipped miserably, playing the full 90 minutes but only scoring 5.9 points, the team’s lowest score.
A match with a 2-2 draw is the lot of Ronaldo and the host when all the top parameters belong to the visiting team. The home team had 5 shots on goal, including 4 by Ronaldo, compared to 16 shots by the visiting team, AL Nassr Riyadh.
He soon led 1-0, but Ronaldo’s teammates Gray and Aqal equalized and increased the score to 2-1 before the first half was over.
In the second half, when Ronaldo had clear opportunities, he failed to take advantage of them. There was a situation where CR7 was alone with the ball but he shot it, which is deplorable. Then, in the 90th minute, the visiting team tied the score at 2-2.
Ronaldo’s personal parameters in this match were also poor with a score of only 5.9, the lowest in the team despite playing the full 90 minutes with four shots, including two missed situations. It should be noted that, despite playing every game, Ronaldo did not provide any assists despite 12 passes and 5/9 successful duels. That same number shows that Ronaldo lost the ball 9 times.
Portuguese fans are deeply concerned as Ronaldo’s underwhelming stint at Al-Riyadh and his dramatic decline raise alarms. With just 20 days until Portugal enters the Euro 2024 finals in Germany, the team’s hopes still heavily rely on Ronaldo’s shoulders.