SOCCER
Why was Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for Al Nassr? Portuguese star left out against Damac
The former Real Madrid striker was left on the bench for Al Nassr’s most recent game.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been left on the bench for Al Nassr’s game against Damac on match day 27 of the Saudi Pro League.
The Portuguese forward was left out of the starting XI by manager Luis Castro along with Brozovic, Mané and Telles in a team that featured plenty of talent from Saudi Arabia.
The XI, which consisted of Ospina; Boushal, Lajami, Laporte, Qassem; Al Elewai, Al Sulaiheem; Al Hassan, Al Najei, Ghareeb and Al Nemer shocked the football world as the former Real Madrid man, who broke another record just last week, was not included.
Is Ronaldo injured?
As far as we are aware, there is no injury to Cristiano Ronaldo and the decision is purely tactical.
‘CR7′, as he is sometimes known, has been in fine form for Al Nassr recently, causing eyebrows to be raised even higher at his exclusion from the starting XI. The Portugal captain has now scored 36 goals in 35 games for Al Nassr this season, which includes hat-tricks in his last two matches, putting his career total up to an incredible 65.
Cristiano currently has 26 league goals for the season, compared to 22 for Serbian striker Mitrovic of Al Hilal. Should Ronaldo win the Golden Boot, he would be the first striker in the world to become the top scorer in 4 different leagues.