Cristiano Ronaldo breaks silence as Al-Nassr part ways with Rudi Garcia
Cristiano Ronaldo has reacted to Al-Nassr officially announcing that Rudi Garcia is no longer the team's manager. Garcia took charge at the start of the season and led the club in 26 matches, winning 18, drawing five, and losing three.
Al-Nassr announced Garcia's departure on social media, saying:
"Al-Nassr can announce that Head Coach Rudi Garcia has left the Club by mutual agreement. The board and everyone at AlNassr would like to thank Rudi and his staff for their dedicated work during the past 8 months."
The decision to sack the Frenchman came after Al-Alami were held to a goalless draw in their latest Saudi Pro League showdown against Al-Feiha. There have been questions about Garcia's tactical approach to matches along with rumors of possible rifts with five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo.
Ronaldo, however, sent a classy message as the 38-year-old attacker wrote on his Instagram story:
"Pleasure to have worked with you. Wishing you all the best for the future."
Since joining Al-Nassr as a free agent, Ronaldo has played 11 matches under Garcia, scoring 11 goals and providing two assists.
Previously, Garcia had criticized his team following the Al-Feiha showdown, saying (via GOAL):
"The result is definitely bad, and we are not happy. I don’t feel satisfied with the players' performance. I asked them to play at the same level as the last game (a 5-0 win over Al-Adalah), but this didn’t happen. There are seven games left; we will try to recover, and we realise that it’s not easy after we lost two points, but everything is possible."
Dinko Jelicic, the club's Under-19 coach, will take charge of the club until they sign a new manager.
What's next for Al-Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo?
Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr will return to action on April 18 as they take on Nuno Espirito Santo's Al-Hilal in the Riyadh derby.
Al-Hilal are the defending champions of the Saudi Pro League. However, they are fourth in the league at the moment, ten points off Al-Ittihad. Al-Alami, meanwhile, trail Al-Hilal by three points.