Cristiano and Al Nassr suffer as the millionaire project runs aground

Al Nassr crashed out of the AFC Champions League at the quarter final stage losing to Al Ain and are adrift in the domestic league despite a recent spend of €165M on talent.

The Cristiano Ronaldo effect at Al Nassr has failed to translate into major silverware for the Saudi club. On Monday night the Riyadh side managed to bounce back twice and take their quarter final clash against Al Ain to a penalty shoot-out with the Emirati side ultimately prevailing. The Asian Champions League is much coveted by the side but by crashing out at this stage, the Faris Najd also saw any hopes of appearing at the expanded 2025 FIFA Club World Cup evaporate.

In his time with Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo can only count on an Arab Club Champions Cup title to his honours list as city rivals Al Hilal are the unstoppable force currently in Saudi football.

Last summer Al Nassr, were one of the big spenders in Saudi Arabia, as they splashed out and enlisted the services of: Otávio (€60M); Mané (€30M); Laporte (€27.5M); Fofana (€25M); Brozovic (€18M) and Alex Telles (€4.6M). The high profile side were humbled on Monday with Al Ain featuring a side of relative unknowns and homegrown talent as Brozovic, Telles and Otávio missed their penalties in the final shootout.

As things stand, Al Nassr are out of the AFC Champions League and are 12 points off the pace in the Saudi Pro League as the unbeaten Al Hilal dominate with the Blue Waves yet to lose in the league. The only silverware options for Cristiano Ronaldo this season are minor titles in the Saudi Super Cup where they face Al Hilal in the semi-finals (9 April) and Luis Castro’s side have also progressed to the semi final stages of the 23-24 Saudi King Cup.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest paid