Cristiano Ronaldo aims to fire Al Nassr into AFC Champions League Elite last 16

Saudi sides dominating western zone with Nassr looking to join Al Hilal and Al Ahli in the knockout round

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates Al Nassr's victory over Al Shabab in the Saudi Pro League at the Al Shabab Club Stadium in Riyadh. Getty Images

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo scores the second goal from the penalty spot on Friday, October 18, 2024. Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nassr players celebrate victory over Al Shabab in Riyadh. Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with teammate Ali Lajami after scoring from the penalty spot. Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo after scoring the winner for Al Nassr against Al Shabab. Getty Images

Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo continued his good form in the Saudi Pro League. Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo battles for the ball at the Al Shabab Club Stadium. Getty Images

Cristiano Ronaldo secured victory for Al Nassr. Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo will look to help Al Nassr maintain their unbeaten start to the AFC Champions League Elite when the Saudi side take on Al Gharafa in Qatar on Monday.

Nassr were thrown a lifeline in the domestic Saudi Pro League when Al Hilal suffered a first league defeat in 551 days as Jorge Jesus' side fell to a surprise 3-2 defeat against Al Khaleej on Saturday.

It came 24 hours after Nassr suffered their own setback against promoted Al Qadsiah. Ronaldo scored his seventh goal of the season in Friday's 2-1 defeat that saw him line up opposite Spanish defender Nacho.

The two are former longtime teammates from their years at Real Madrid, but it was Qadsiah who celebrated at the final whistle.

“It was a different and difficult game against Ronaldo,” Nacho said. “He is my friend and I had the best part of my career playing with him but here we have a different experience and are playing for different teams. It was an honour to play against him.”

That defeat looked to have damaged Nassr's title hopes, but Hilal's loss to Khaleej – their first in the league since May 2023 – was compounded by Al Ittihad's 2-0 victory over bottom side Al Fateh, allowing the Jeddah club to leapfrog Hilal into top spot.

It was Hilal's first domestic defeat in 47 matches.

“We knew that the victories would not continue because this is football,” said Hilal forward Marcos Leonardo. “We have to work and achieve victory in the next match in the AFC Champions League Elite.”

Saudi Arabian clubs have yet to lose in the western zone of the Asian competition – the 24 teams in the tournament are divided into two groups of 12 with eight from each progressing to the Round of 16 after playing eight matches – and occupy the top three spots.

Nassr are third with 10 points from four games and will be almost certain of a place in the next round if they can beat Gharafa.

Hilal, Asia's most successful club with four titles, also travel to Qatar to face 2011 winners Al Sadd. Unlike SPL games, Neymar is eligible to play in Asian competitions but the Brazilian is still recovering from the injury sustained against Esteghlal of Iran earlier in November.

Jeddah club Al Ahli are second, also boasting a perfect record of four wins, and face reigning Asian champions Al Ain. The UAE club are bottom of the group and lost 5-4 to Hilal and then 5-1 to Nassr, defeats which cost Hernan Crespo his job as head coach. The Argentine has been replaced by Leonardo Jardim, the Portuguese boss who led Al Hilal to the 2021 continental title.