Al Nassr vs Al Ain score, result, highlights as Cristiano Ronaldo suffers AFC Champions League penalties heartache

Dom Farrell

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Al Nassr vs Al Ain score, result, highlights as Cristiano Ronaldo suffers AFC Champions League penalties heartache image

Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nassr bowed out of the AFC Champions League on penalties after an incredible quarterfinal encounter with Al Ain in Riyadh.

Soufiane Rahimi scored the only goal in the first leg last week and, after half an hour of a fractious affair at Al Awal Park, the Moroccan forward darted in off the left flank to slot a nonchalant finish through Raghid Najjar's legs. Rahimi made it 2-0 in the 45th minute but Abdulrahman Ghareeb reduced the arrears in stoppage time.

That sparked a spectacular comeback as Otavia's cross was diverted into his own net by Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa, who was then beaten by an Alex Telles free-kick on his torrid road towards becoming a penalty shootout hero.

It was not a night to delight purists of the goalkeeping art as Al Nassr's Najjar made a mess of Matias Palacois's extra-time cross, diverting it against his own crossbar for substitute Sultan Al Shamsi to prod home.

MORE: AFC Champions League 2023/24: Fixtures, results, schedule, teams, prize money

Al Nassr vs Al Ain live score (Al Ain won 3-1 on penalties)

  AET Goalscorers
Al Nassr 4(4) Ghareeb 45+5', Eisa (OG) 51', Telles 72', Ronaldo (p) 118' 
Al Ain 3(4) Rahimi 30', 45', Al Shamsi 103'

Lineups:

Al Nassr (4-2-3-1, right to left): 36. Raghid Najjar (GK) —  78. Ali Lajami, 5. Abdulelah Al Amri (23. Aiman Yahya), 4. Mohammed Al-Fatil (8. Abdulmajeed Al Sulayhim; 30. Meshari Al Nemer ), 15. Alex Telles — 17. Abdullah Al Khaibari, 77. Marcelo Brozovic — 29. Abdulrahman Ghareeb (19. Ali Al Hassan), 25. Otavio, 10, Sadio Mane — 7. Cristiano Ronaldo.

Al Ain (4-2-3-1, right to left): 17. Khalid Eisa (GK) — 11. Bandar Al-Ahbabi, 16. Khalid Al-Hashemi, 3. Kouame Kouadio, 15. Erik (44. Saeed Jumaa) — 5. Park Yong-woo, 8. Mohammed Al Baloushi (Hazem Mohammad) — 20. Matias Palacios, 6. Yahia Nader (27. Sultan Al Shamsi), 10. Kaku — 21. Soufiane Rahimi.

MORE: AFC Champions League 2023/24: Fixtures, results, schedule, teams, prize money

Al Nassr were down to 10 men by that stage as a result of Ayman Yahya's ridiculously wild two-footed lunge on Bandar Al-Ahbabim, but they again managed to haul themselves back into it as Ronaldo won and converted a 118th-minute penalty.

The only problem was Ronaldo remained the lone Al Nassr player to have scored from the spot at the end of a crazy night. Eisa, very arguably at fault for all three goals he conceded from open play, saved superbly from Marcelo Brozovic before watching Telles clatter against the crossbar.

He almost kept out Ronaldo the second time around as Rahimi, Kaku and Al Shamsi did the business for Al Ain. That left Otavia needing to score. The Portuguese attacking midfielder blazed high and wide to hand Al Ain a semifinal against either Al Hilal or Al Ittihad.

MORE: Where to watch Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr vs Al Ain

Ronaldo horror miss symbolises disastrous night for Al Nassr

In the wider context of the game – so, so much happened before and after — it is hard to peg what happened in the 61st minute as a key moment. But, my word, what on earth was Cristiano Ronaldo doing?

The accident-prone Eisa spilt a shot on the turn from Ali Lajami, leaving the greatest goalscorer in the history of the game with the formality of tapping home from three yards. Yes, it was on his weaker left foot and Eisa was sort of lying in the way. But, come on! It might be the very worst miss of Ronaldo’s long and illustrious career.

Of course, the 39-year-old still stood up when it mattered to force penalties and he was the only Al Nassr player to do the business during the shoot-out. Yet his club followed a three-game winless run with this heartbreak. They are all but out of the Saudi Pro League title race. That wretched Ronaldo miss will be replayed over and over as a symbol of a season that promised much but has fallen flat.
 

Al Nassr vs Al Ain live updates, highlights, and commentary

Penalties: AL AIN WIN 3-1 ON PENALTIES

7th penalty: Otavia has to score. HE BLAZES IT HIGH AND WIDE!!!! AL AIN ARE THROUGH TO THE AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMIFINALS AFTER AN ABSOLUTE EPIC! WOW! Al Nassr 1-3 Al Ain

6th penalty: Al Shamsi. Scored in the game... scores in the shootout! Al Ain on the brink now. Al Nassr 1-3 Al Ain

5th penalty: Ronaldo, not on his customary 5th penalty. It might not get there. Ohhhhh, Eisa gets a touch but it squirms in. Al Nassr on the board. Al Nassr 1-2 Al Ain

4th penalty: Kaku fires low, Najjar guesses correctly to his right but can't keep it out. Al Nassr 0-2 Al Ain

3rd penalty: Alex Telles, WALLOP, AGAINST THE CROSSBAR! Al Nassr have missed their first two kicks! Al Nassr 0-1 Al Ain

2nd penalty: Rahimi, the outstanding player of the tie, absolutely creams one high down the middle. Al Nassr 0-1 Al Ain

1st penalty: Brovozic up first for Al Nassr. SAVED! Eisa plunges low to his left to make a final stop! Al Nassr 0-0 Al Ain

Fulltime: What incredible drama. Ronaldo's late penalty means we're heading to penalties. Al Nassr were 1-0 down after last week, then 3-0 down on aggregate before going a goal and a man down in extra time. Still they survive for this trial from 12 yards.

120th minute+3: Excellent delivery, Kouame heads just wide.

120th minute+2: Rahimi down the left, wins a corner. One last chance for Al Ain...

120th minute+1: We're into the first of three added minutes as Al Ain waste a corner.

118th minute: GOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL!!!!!! Cristiano Ronaldo!!!!!!

Never in doubt, Ronaldo sits Eisa down and dispatches the kick. There might be a few more penalties coming up. Al Nassr goalkeeper Najjar is in tears. He's going to have to pull himself together.

116th minute: PENALTY TO AL NASSR!!!! Jumaa untidily into the back of Ronaldo as he moves towards a left-wing cross. You're not getting away with that. However, there is a long VAR check. Penalty it is.

114th minute: Ronaldo roving into the box again. He can't get a strike away as Kouame steals in. The centre-back has been immense tonight.

112th minute: Al Nassr free-kick, very much in Ronaldo country. No, Telles! Who hits it halfway up the wall. He might not get another for a while.

106th minute: Off we go again. Oh, here's Ronaldo through on goal... Eisa stands firm and also pouches the rebound. Huge moment.

Halftime in extra time: Al Nassr have a man sent off, Al Ali score to go ahead again. Other than that, nothing much to report. Would you bet against another twist?

105th minute+1: We're into three minutes of stoppage time. Eisa with a smart bit of keeping here, a strong wrist batting Mane's low cross out of the goal mouth with Ronaldo lurking.

103rd minute: GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!!! Sultan Al Shamsi!!!!

It's another goalkeeping calamity and this time Al Ali are the beneficiaries. Palacios hits a speculative cross into the box, Najjar makes a mess of it as it spins through his gloves and against the top of his crossbar. Substitute Al Shamsi is on hand to prod home. Al Ali a man up and a goal up.

97th minute: RED CARD! Yahya flies in two-footed. We're going to VAR. Amazing we have to even check. It's an obvious red. He jumped over prone teammate Al Khaibari to try and make a tackle, which is just entirely mad, I'm afraid. Ayman Yahya is sent off and Al Nassr are down to 10 men.

91st minute: Coming up to quarter-past midnight local time. We go again!

Fulltime: There'll be an additional half hour. What an incredible comeback from Al Nassr, what a whirlwind of a game. And Ronaldo hasn't even scored yet...

90th minute+10: Telles over another setpiece, feeds it out to Brozovic. His deep cross towards Mane is cleared. We're going to have long throw hurled into the box.

90th minute+9: Hazem Mohammad gets in behind Al Nassr, Najjar saves well. Oh, he's offside.

90th minute+5: Free-kick in a dangerous position down the Al Nassr left. Kaku's delivery is cleared at the near post but the same player in down down in the box. He was walloped by a high boot from Yahya. We've had a check and no penalty.

90th minute: We will have NINE MINUTES OF STOPPAGE TIME. Those start with Al-Fatil receiving treatment, so there'll be more. Can either side find a winner?

89th minute: Al Ain deal with a couple of Telles corners. Mane has a shot blocked. The second half has taken part almost entirely inside their half.

84th minute: It's still fractious. Al Nassr riding that wave. Rahimi is booked for seemingly pulling Otavio's hair. Make sure no one tells Louis van Gaal. 

75th minute: Otavio collects a Ronaldo backheel, wriggles through a couple of challenges and has a shot blocked. Al Ain have completely gone to pieces here.

72nd minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!! Alex Telles

Comeback complete. Telles whips in another wonderful delivery from the right and it goes all the way through and in. Of all the goals Al Nassr have scored, that one was the least Eisa's fault. It was still fairly significantly his fault.

71st minute: Mane, who's had a bit of a stinker by all accounts, clashes with Al Ain substitute Jumaa. He's booked. Ooh, looking at the replays he's lucky that isn't red.

70th minute: Ronaldo chops inside. You know the move. He takes a tumble over Palacios. The referee waves away the protests. Maybe book him?

67th minute: Another chance as Mane drags wastefully into the side netting. That's poor but Al Ain need to get a hold of this, They can't just rely on the profligacy of once-great players to get them over the line.

61st minute: OH MY WORD, RONALDO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!?! Lajami's shot on the turn from Mane's cross is inevitably spilled by the accident-prone Eisa. Ronaldo has a tap in from two or three yards. He puts it wide! No offside flag. Unbelievable.

61st minute: Mane to Ronaldo and it's deflected wide. Ronaldo is charging about everywhere. He took a quick throw-in a couple of moments ago. 

59th minute: Al Ain have steadied the ship impressively and kept the action away from Eisa. Given he's showing himself to be a complete liability, that feels wise.

51st minute: GOOOOAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Khalid Eisa (OG)!!!!!!!!!!

Level on the night, the tie is alive! It's another howler from Eisa, it must be said. Otavio gets away down the right channel and has Ronaldo in the box. But he opts to power across goal, the ball strikes the Al Ain goalkeeper and flies into his net.

48th minute: Ronaldo rattles the crossbar but the offside flag goes up. Again he tries to fire up the crowd. At the other end Najjar wanders out to the edge of his area and almost lets Rahimi get his hat-trick. Good grief!

47th minute: Otavio bundles all the way through towards the six-yard box but he can't get his shot away! This feels like huge period for Al Ain to negotiate.

46th minute: Back underway. The officials were booed back out onto the field. Lovely.

Halftime: Ronaldo storms off in a huff but turning this into a scrap might just be Al Nassr's best chance. Al Ain's smooth football on the break served to help Rahimi almost put the tie beyond the Saudi Pro League giants. Ghareeb gave them hope, but it's still a long way back.

45th minute+8: Al Amri was down holding his head in the area just then. VAR check. No penalty. Telles heads wide at the near post from a corner. Brozovic has been booked for dissent. Once this first half actually ends, the second could be really tasty.

45th minute+5: GOOOOAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Abdulrahman Ghareeb!!!!!

Al Nassr have a lifeline, largely on account of Al Ain goalkeeper Eisa losing his mind. He came out to close Mane down, Mane turned away from goal and, well, he followed him. And followed him a bit more to end up in no-man's land. Mane slid the ball back towards the unguarded net, where Ghareeb did the rest.

Whoever progresses to the semifinals, they will face the winner of the tie between domestic rivals Al Hilal and Al Ittihad. That tie will be played across two legs, both of which will take place in April.

45th minute+2: Ronaldo tumbles to the ground in the area like a deck of cards looking for a penalty. That's pathetic, quite frankly. There's a VAR check, he should probably have been booked. Lajami heads over from the resulting corner.

45th minute: GOOOOAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Soufiane Rahimi!!!!

Brilliant again from that man Rahimi, who whips clips a delicious finish into the bottom corner. He took that early on the edge of the box with minimal backlift. Exemplary and clever technique that left Najjar with no chance. Surely there's no way back for Al Nassr now?

42nd minute: Kaku tries his luck but that's a routine save for Najjar. Al Nassr give the ball away as they try to play out and a robust Al Amri tackle leaves Palacios on the deck. Mane thinks there's timewasting at play.

41st minute: He drills low and it bobbles wide. Ronaldo didn't really get hold of that one.

40th minute: Otavio remains in the wars and Al-Ahbabi barges him to the floor. 35 yards out. Will Ronaldo shoot? What do you think...

39th minute: Ronaldo with the chance! Brozovic cuts back to CR7 but his shot isn't quite in the corner and Eisa is able to get down to his right and make the save.

37th minute: Brozovic looks to release Mane but the Senegal star concedes a foul. We're coming back for Otavio being down in a heap in the centre circle. Al Baloushi gets a yellow card for that indiscretion. 

35th minute: Rahimi and Erik cut Al Nassr apart down the left. The hosts clear but Al Ain sense they can end this now.

30th minute: GOOOOAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! Soufiane Rahimi!!!!

After a long delay it stands and Al Nassr now have a mountain to climb. Rahimi timed his run to perfection coming in off the left flank, kept a cool head and slotted a delightful finish through Najjar's legs. Massive goal!

 

28th minute: Rahimi into the net for Al Ain but the offside flag goes up! Boss Hernan Crespo instantly signalled for the television review. The VAR is having a look. It's tight.

25th minute: Brozovic isn't exactly the guy you'd expect to be producing acrobatic overhead-kicks at the back post. Given how that one went, it might be a while until you see the Croatia playmaker try it again.

21st minute: Ronaldo comes deep and drives forward, feeding Mane on the right. The former Liverpool star crosses, looking for Ronaldo. Al Ain clear behind and Ronaldo's header from the resulting corner is high and wide.

20th minute: Erik wants a free-kick as Al Nassr full-back Lajmai shoves him over. The referee isn't interested. Harsh!

17th minute: Telles whips in another beauty. The former Manchester United man's dead balls really look on-point tonight. Al Ain clear their lines this time.

15th minute: Huge chance for Al Ain! The ball breaks to Palacios inside the area and Najjar saves brilliantly with his feet. Brozovic heads clear to quell the panic.

12th minute: Spicy start to this one. Angry confrontation all over the field.

8th minute: Ronaldo over the latest Al Nassr free-kick on the right. He shoots, somewhat ambitiously, and cracks his effort in to the wall.

6th minute: Fine save from Eisa. Telles whipped a devilish free-kick in from the right, Al-Fatil got up well but the Al Ain goalkeeper sprung to his right to push a firm header clear.

3rd minute: Nervy moment for Al Ain defender Kouame, who lost his footing but did enough to block Otavio and stop the Al Nassr attacker from darting onto a through ball.

1st minute: Al Ain get us underway and first-leg goalscorer Rahimi immediately springs beyond the Al Nassr backline to shoot into the side netting. He looked pretty close to being offside but that's an early warning. Ronaldo and his team-mates might have had a mountain to climb!

5 mins before kickoff: The teams are in the tunnel. A sea of yellow awaits them and a tifo reading "PAYBACK". Let's see if Al Nassr can back up that statement of intent from their fans.

20 mins before kickoff: Not long until the action gets underway now and it's all fun and games form the travelling Al Ain fans in the stadium...

45 mins before kickoff: This is the Al Ain XI.

1 hour before kickoff: The teams are in. Here's how the hosts shape up.

1 hr 30 mins before kickoff: It's safe to say there are a few storm clouds brewing around Al Nassr. It's certainly not been the sunshine and roses that Ronaldo's first full season was supposed to herald. They're on a three-match winless run across all competitions. Another of their marquee signings, Aymeric Laporte, will miss this second leg after being sent off during the initial loss to Al Ain. Ronaldo's return from his own domestic ban couldn't avert a 3-1 loss to Al Raed at the weekend, meaning it will need a collapse of epic proportions for Al Hilal not to waltz off with the Saudi Pro League title. All things considered, this is a season-defining night for Al Nassr.

2 hours before kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Al Nassr vs. Al Ain in the AFC Champions League. Can Cristiano Ronaldo and co. overcome a 1-0 first-leg deficit and book their place in the semifinals?

Al Nassr vs Al Ain kick off time

This AFC Champions League clash takes place at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and kicks off on Monday, March 11 at 9 p.m. local time.

Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories:

  Date Kickoff time
USA Mon, Mar. 11 3:00 p.m. ET
Canada Mon, Mar. 11 3:00 p.m. ET
UK Mon, Mar. 11

7:00 p.m. GMT
Australia Tue, Mar. 12 6:00 a.m. AEST
India Tue, Mar. 12 12:30 a.m. IST

Al Nassr vs Al Ain lineups, team news

Otavio returns to an Al Nassr attack that has struggled since Anderson Talisca went down with a serious thigh injury

Aymeric Laporte is suspended after being sent off in the first leg.

Al Nassr lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Najjar (GK) —  Lajami, Al Amri, Al-Fatil, Telles — Al Khaibari, Brozovic — Ghareeb, Otavio, Mane — Ronaldo.

Al Nassr subs: Afandy (GK), Al-Sulayhim, Bu-Washl, Al-Naji, Al-Hassan, Yahya, Qasem, Al-Nemer, Al-Otaibi, Al-Elewai, Tambakti.

Hernan Crespo's Al Ain are currently second in the UAE Pro League. Striker Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba is a huge miss for them after scoring six goals in as many Champions League games this season.

Al Ain lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Eisa (GK) — Al-Ahbabi, Al-Hashemi, Kouame, Erik — Park, M. Al Baloushi — Palacios Nader, Rahimi — Romero.

Al Ain subs: Bu-Sanda, Al-Mantheri, Barman, Al-Baloushi, Waleed, Al-Shamsi, Hazem, K. Al-Baloushi, Jumaa, Saeed.

Al Nassr vs Al Ain live stream, TV channel

Here's how to watch the AFC Champions League group match in selected areas of the world's major regions:

Region TV Streaming
USA — Paramount+
Canada —

—
UK — TrillerTV
Australia — Paramount+
India Sports 18 FanCode

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USA: This game is available to stream on Paramount+. New users can currently get a FREE 30-day trial by entering discount code 'GOAT' at checkout.

Australia: Paramount+ also has the rights to all Ronaldo's AFC Champions League outings in Australia.

UK: The AFC Champions League can be streamed live in the United Kingdom via TrillerTV.

MORE: How to watch Saudi Pro League in USA | How to watch in UK

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.