Cristiano Ronaldo returns as Al Nassr defeated in first leg of AFC Champions League quarterfinal vs Al Ain

Brad Cox

•
Cristiano Ronaldo returns as Al Nassr defeated in first leg of AFC Champions League quarterfinal vs Al Ain image

Al Ain stormed to a first-leg advantage over Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League thanks to Soufiane Rahimi's fine first-half finish. 

For CR7, it was his first game back following his one-game suspension after making an 'obscene gesture' towards Al Shabab fans last month. 

Al Ain supporters continued to taunt the Portuguese star in Abu Dhabi and his frustrations grew when he was excellently denied by Khalid Eissa late in the second half. 

The UAE side originally thought they had taken the lead in the 28th minute when Kaku tucked an effort past David Ospina. It was a neat finish, however, VAR intervened and brought the play back due to an offside in the build-up.

Al Nassr vs Al Ain final score

  Fulltime Goalscorers
Al Nassr 0  
Al Ain 1 Rahimi 44'

The hosts then did take the lead just before the half-time whistle when Rahimi took the ball around Ospina and passed the ball into an empty net. Rahimi's balance allowed him to control Kaku's slick through ball before the Moroccan forward scored the opener.

Ronaldo and Sadio Mane almost immediately combined to find the equaliser, but the Al Ain defence stood up to the challenge and cleared their lines. 

Rahimi again caused more problems to Al Nassr's backline and in the 71st minute, he thought he had doubled his side's lead. The 27-year-old had just strayed offside before calmly finishing into the bottom left corner. 

Ronaldo's anger continued, much to the delight of the home fans, as he was dispossessed twice in as many minutes. He was desperate to turn the score on its head but ultimately tried to take on too many players. 

To make matters worse for the Riyadh side, Aymeric Laporte was sent off in added time for violent conduct and therefore will miss the second leg. 

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

FT: A nervy finish for the hosts but they hang on and take a HUGE first-leg advantage. It's all to be play for in the second leg, which takes place in a week. 

90+10 minute: Ronaldo tries the spectacular! He attempted to chip the goalkeeper from his own half but it's narrowly wide. 

90+8 minute: Al Ain makes another substitution in a bid to help their team get over the line. 

90+4 minute: RED CARD! What a wild decision by the referee. It's somehow been classified as violent conduct and the ex-Man City man cannot believe it. 

90+3 minute: The referee has been asked to take a look at the monitor for a potential red card on Laporte. Looking at the replay, it's just a coming together in the box and nothing more.

90th minute: There are 11 minutes of added time! 

87th minute: A little scuffle turns into a shoving contest between the two sides. No yellow cards, just a few minutes wasted. 

80th minute: WHAT A SAVE TO DENY RONALDO! Eissa brilliantly denies the Al Nassr forward as he looks to smash the ball home from inside the 18-yard box. 

76th minute: It's just been announced that there are over 22,000 fans in attendance this evening. 

72nd minute: Yep, offside. No goal. 

71st minute: Rahimi thought he had doubled Al Ain's lead with another cute finish past Ospina, however, the linesman had his flag up. VAR are checking...

65th minute: VAR checks for a penalty to Al Nassr but determines there was no foul from the corner. 

57th minute: Ronaldo chases a long ball but there is just too much on it and he can't quite get there ahead of Al Ain's goalkeeper, who came out well. 

52nd minute: It's been a very stop-start opening to this half, both sides have made changes and are yet to find the same intensity. 

46th minute: The second half is underway...

HT: What a first half by Al Ain. The crowd have been superb throughout the first half and their team has responded. Ronaldo's side have it all to do in the second 45. 

44th minute: GOAL! Rahimi opens the scoring for Al Ain! What a move that was and it's a neat finish to top it off. Kaku's slick through ball is controlled brilliantly by the Moroccan forward and he takes the ball around Ospina before passing into an empty net. 

34th minute: Mane and Ronaldo combine beautifully up top but Al Ain defends well and clears the danger. 

29th minute: NO GOAL! The long ball from Eissa to Rahimi is the infringement. Al Nassr get away with one there...

28th minute: GOAL! 1-0 to Al Ain! Kaku's tucked finish beats Ospina and the home fans go wild! VAR are checking for an offside in the build-up...

23rd minute: Palacios' inswinging corner almost gets the better of Ospina and the referee awards a free-kick albeit a very soft one.

21st minute: Ayman tries to catch Eissa off guard with a quick snapshot from the right but it's well wide. Al Ain were caught sleeping defensively. 

15th minute: Al Ahbabi is given a yellow card for wiping out Mane down the left flank.

10th minute: Ronaldo's trickery causes him to get the ball stuck under his feet but Palacios wipes him out as he tries to recover it. Free-kick to Al Nassr. 

5th minute: Ronaldo's overhead kick is wide, he maybe had more time than he first thought. 

1st minute: We're underway in Abu Dhabi! 

10 mins before kickoff: Kickoff is rapidly approaching and the atmosphere is building nicely in Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium. 

30 mins before kickoff: Both sides come into this clash in good form. The hosts Al Ain haven't lost in seven games, whereas Ronaldo's men are undefeated in their last five. 

1 hour before kickoff: The away side have arrived...

1 hour 30 mins before kickoff: The hype around this match has been real. It's a sellout crowd at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi! 

2 hours before kickoff: Welcome to today's live blog! We'll be bringing you live updates throughout the match, including team news as we get it, as Ronaldo returns to action for this AFC Champions League quarterfinal. Stay tuned. 

Al Nassr vs Al Ain kick-off time

This AFC Champions League clash takes place at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE and kicks off on Monday, March 4 at 9 p.m. local time.

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

  Date Kickoff time
USA Mon, Mar. 4 11:00 a.m. ET
Canada Mon, Mar. 4 11:00 a.m. ET
U.K. Mon, Mar. 4 4:00 p.m. GMT
Australia Tue, Mar. 5 3:00 a.m. AEST
India Mon, Mar. 4 9:30 p.m. IST

Al Nassr vs Al Ain lineups, team news

Ronaldo is expected to come straight back into the Al Nassr starting line up, with Sami Al-Najei set to make way for the Portuguese veteran.

Al Nassr lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Abdullah (GK) —  Boushal, Al Amri, Laporte, Telles — Al Khaibari, Brozovic — Talisca, Otavio, Mane — Ronaldo.

Al Nassr subs: TBC

Al Ain are currently second in the UAE Pro League, but their most famous name is manager Hernan Crespo. Togolese international Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba is the main threat in attack with six AFC Champions League goals already this season.

Al Ain lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Eisa (GK) — Traore, Al-Hashemi, Koumare, Erik — Park, Al Baloushi — Atzili, Romero, Al-Shamsi — Laba.

Al Ain subs: TBC

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   —
U.K. — TrillerTV
Australia — Paramount+
India — FanCode

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.

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

India: FanCode has the rights to broadcast the AFC Champions League in India. 

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

Brad Cox

Brad Cox Photo

Brad is a content producer for The Sporting News and has previously worked for the likes of Squawka and The Athletic. His career highlight to date is reporting from the 2022 UEFA Champions League Final in Paris.