Cristiano Ronaldo led Al-Nassr management unhappy with Luis Castro, coach set to be given one last chance in Super Cup - Reports
Cristiano Ronaldo led Al-Nassr management is dissatisfied with manager Luis Castro and the upcoming Super Cup clash might reportedly be his last chance to show his mettle as per Saudi Arabian newspaper Al Youm. The Knights of Najd have won only one of their eight friendly games after their last season concluded, along with a King's Cup final loss against Neymar's Al-Hilal in May.
After being absent from the squad in the last few friendly games, Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to make his comeback in the Super Cup semi-final clash against Al-Taawoun on August 14.
Luis Castro's side had an underwhelming last season in which they couldn't win any major trophies. Al-Nassr lost the Saudi Pro League to Al-Hilal and finished 14 points lower than Neymar's side. They also lost the Saudi Super Cup and were eliminated from the AFC Champions League in the quarter-finals by UAE Pro League side Al-Ain.
However, the silver lining was that Cristiano Ronaldo had a record-breaking individual season and ended up scoring 35 goals and 11 assists in 31 Saudi Pro League games, the most by a player in a single season in the league's history. Overall, he bagged a whopping 44 goals and created 13 more in 45 games across all competitions.
Cristiano Ronaldo broke the record of a former Al-Nassr striker Abderrazak Hamdallah, who netted 34 goals in the 2018-19 season of the Saudi Pro League.
Cristiano Ronaldo-less Al-Nassr suffered a 3-0 defeat against UD Almeria in their last friendly
The Knights of Najd suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat at the hands of the LaLiga 2 side UD Almeria in their last friendly game on August 8.
Despite the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Aymeric Laporte, Al-Nassr fielded a strong starting eleven consisting of the likes of Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozovic, and Otavio. However, UD Almeria looked like the more dominant side from the very first minute.
After mounting a pile of incessant attacks, the Spanish side finally got the lead courtesy of an own goal by Ali Lajami. A cross by an Almeria winger deflected off Lajami's feet and went into the goal after evading the outstretched palms of the goalkeeper.
The lead was doubled six minutes later by Luis Javier Suarez, who received the ball just beyond the penalty box and had space to run. The Colombian had the composure to unleash a grounded shot away from Nawaf Al-Aqidi to make it 2-0 for the Almeria. The scoreline was made 3-0 by Cesar Montes, who headed the ball home after a pin-point cross in the 60th minute.