Ronaldo missing as Al Nassr travels to Doha for AFC clash

Al Nassr, the Saudi football team, left Saudi Arabia to travel to Doha, where they will play Al Duhail on Tuesday in the AFC Champions League [1] group stage, but Ronaldo was missing.

But Aymeric Laporte and Portuguese sensation Cristiano Ronaldo were conspicuously absent from the team.

Since Ronaldo has been playing in high-pressure matches since the beginning of the season, Portuguese coach Luis Castro decided to keep him out of the trip.
Ronaldo, who is also playing for the Portuguese national team in the European qualifiers, has been one of Al Nassr’s most active players this season, both at home and in the Asian competitions.

Castro decided that, with Ronaldo turning 38 years old, the Portuguese player should take a break, particularly as Al Nassr gets closer to guaranteeing a spot in the AFC Champions League knockout stage.

Group E is currently led by Al Nassr, with a 3-point margin over Iran’s Persepolis in second place.

The Al Nassr delegation to Doha was missing several other key players, including Aymeric Laporte, Raghd Al-Najjar, Nawaf Boushal, and Abdullah Al-Khaybari.

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