Cristiano Ronaldo endures more Saudi Arabia heartbreak as Al Nassr collapse in Super Cup final vs. Al Hilal

Joe Wright

Cristiano Ronaldo endures more Saudi Arabia heartbreak as Al Nassr collapse in Super Cup final vs. Al Hilal image

Cristiano Ronaldo endured more heartache in Saudi Arabia on Saturday as he once again missed out on a trophy to Al Hilal.

The Portugal great scored the opener in the final of the Saudi Super Cup to give his side a deserved first-half lead and move to 897 career goals across all competitions for club and country.

Al Hilal beat Al Nassr to the Saudi Pro League title in 2023/24 and defeated them in the final of this year's King's Cup, underlining their status as the dominant footballing force in the country.

It looked as though Luis Castro's team would claim the first piece of silverware of the new season, though, after producing the stronger performance in the opening 45 minutes at Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium in Abha.

However, Al Nassr endured an awful collapse in the second half as they conceded four times in 17 minutes to surrender the game — and the trophy.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic produced a clever finish to level the scores 10 minutes after the break, before Aleksandar Mitrovic struck twice from close range in the space of six minutes.

Former Barcelona winger Malcom then capitalised on a slip from goalkeeper Bento to make certain of the victory, with Ronaldo blasting a free-kick over the crossbar with the last act of the match.

The Al Nassr captain swiftly went down the tunnel after the final whistle rather than stay to applaud the fans or congratulate the winners. The pressure will now be on the five-time Ballon d'Or winner to lead his team to a title challenge against the nation's best side.

MORE: All the latest soccer action | Cristiano Ronaldo news

Has Cristiano Ronaldo won a trophy with Al Nassr?

Ronaldo's sole piece of silverware since his move to Saudi Arabia came via the Arab Club Champions Cup in 2023.

The veteran forward scored twice, the second in extra time, to give Al Nassr a 2-1 win over Al Hilal in the final at King Fahd Stadium in Taif.

After that, Al Hilal went on a 42-game unbeaten run in all competitions and have still not lost a match to a fellow Saudi side. They have gone six games without defeat against Al Nassr.

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.