As the Portuguese forward approaches his 40th birthday on Wednesday, he added to his impressive tally with his 22nd and 23rd goals of the season. Al-Nassr had already assured their advancement to the round of 16 prior to this match in the penultimate phase of the group stage.
In his debut for Al-Nassr, striker Jhon Duran, who recently joined from Aston Villa in the Premier League, made an appearance. The home side took the lead in the 25th minute with a goal from midfielder Ali Al-Hassan, followed by Ronaldo converting a penalty just before the halftime whistle. Ronaldo further extended the lead with a header 12 minutes before the end of the match, and Mohammed Al-Fatil concluded the scoring with a fourth goal.
With this win, Al-Nassr cemented their third place in the competitive 12-team group. Meanwhile, another Saudi team, Al-Ahli, ascended to the top of the standings after securing a 3-1 victory against Al-Sadd of Qatar.
Akram Afif, the Asian player of the year, opened the scoring for Al-Sadd just 47 seconds into the match. However, former Liverpool player Roberto Firmino quickly equalized with an impressive bicycle kick in the 10th minute. Just before halftime, Brazilian defender Ibanez gave Al-Ahli the lead, and Riyad Mahrez, who transferred from Manchester City in 2023, put the game out of reach with a goal in the 81st minute.
In other matchups, Qatar’s Al-Rayyan managed to edge out the defending champions, Al-Ain, with a 2-1 victory, while Iraq’s Al-Shorta played to a 1-1 draw against Persepolis from Iran.
The tournament format sees the top eight teams from both groups, representing the western and eastern regions of Asia, progressing to the second round.
