Al Nassr received 2 bad news before being Al Fahte’s guest.
Al Nassr, featuring superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, experienced an emotional match against Shabab Al Ahli of Qatar in the AFC Champions League a few days ago. They also identified their opponents in the group stage after the draw yesterday (24/8).
Ronaldo and his teammates moved to the venue in the 3rd round of the Saudi Pro League
The positive signals from the top division for Asia’s club level will hopefully be leverage for Al Nassr to win the first 3 points in the Saudi Pro League. After the first 2 rounds, Ronaldo and his teammates still have not got any points and are ranked 16th out of 18 participating teams.
The good news is that Al Nassr’s two new recruits, centre-back Aymeric Laporte and attacking midfielder Otavio, have arrived ready to play. Laporte is expected to significantly solve Al Nassr’s defensive problems 4 games in a row without keeping a clean sheet.
However, Al Nassr also received 2 bad news when defensive midfielder Seko Fofana and attacking midfielder Talisca were injured, so they will be out of the next 3-4 matches. It is likely that coach Castro will be forced to push Brozovic to play in Fofana’s place while new recruit Otavio will replace Talisca
However, Al Nassr is still rated higher than the host team Al Fateh, this team is not heavily invested with the force of 2 notable players, Cristian Tello, former Barcelona player and Jason Denayer, the Belgian international who played for Man City and Lyon.
Al Nassr’s chances of winning all 3 points are high and the team expects Ronaldo to “open his account” for goals in the Saudi Pro League. The Portuguese superstar is yet to score a goal in the league and with many stars having travelled to Saudi Arabia to play this summer, Ronaldo and Al Nassr’s window to win trophies is not as big as last season.
