(Tokyo) Cristiano Ronaldo, suffering from a virus, will miss Al-Nassr’s opening Asian Champions League match this week against Al-Shorta in Iraq, his Saudi club announced in a statement on X on Sunday.
“Al-Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo was not feeling well today and was diagnosed with a viral infection […] “Therefore, he will not travel with the team to Iraq today. We wish our captain a speedy recovery,” the club said on the social network.
The 39-year-old Portuguese veteran will therefore have to observe a period of rest in Riyadh. He is expected to be available for the Saudi Pro League trip to Al-Ettifaq on Friday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker, who claimed a billion cumulative followers across all his social networks a few days ago, is aiming for the Asian champion title with his club to add to his immense list of achievements. His first attempt with Al-Nassr ended in a penalty shootout defeat in the quarter-finals against the future champions Al-Ain FC (United Arab Emirates) at the beginning of the year.
PHOTO ARMANDO FRANCA, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Cristiano Ronaldo
Renamed the Champions League Elite, the competition starts Monday, in a new format which brings together the 24 teams divided into two groups of 12 teams each, for the East and West zones.
The top eight teams from each zone will play the round of 16 in two-legged matches in March, before the final phase which will take place in Saudi Arabia from April 25 to May 4.
With their massive investments, Saudi Arabian teams are the favourites after spending huge sums of money over the last two years to attract players such as Ronaldo, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Sadio Mané, Marcelo Brozovic, Joao Cancelo and Ruben Neves, among others.