Cristiano Ronaldo sends heartfelt message to Sporting CP as they are confirmed as 2023-24 Primera Liga champions
Cristiano Ronaldo has congratulated his former club Sporting CP after they officially clinched the 2023-24 Primeira Liga title. Ruben Amorim's team have gathered 84 points from 32 matches, eight more than second-placed Benfica with only two more games to go.
Sporting beat Portimonense 3-0 at home on Saturday, May 4, courtesy of goals from Paulinho, Francisco Trincao and Viktor Gyokeres. Benfica's 2-0 defeat away to Famalicao a day later saw the Leoes clinch their 20th league title.
This is interestingly only their second title since Cristiano Ronaldo, then a teenager, departed them for Manchester United in 2021. The Al-Nassr was not part of their title win in 2001-02, but did help them secure the Portuguese Super Cup the following season before leaving the team.
The Al-Nassr striker has now lauded Sporting for their title success by sharing an image of their squad and manager Amorim posted by the club's official account on his Instagram Story. He captioned it (translated from Portuguese):
"Congratulations, champions!"
You can view the same below:
Ronaldo notably played only 31 times for Sporting's first team before moving to United, recording five goals and six assists. He has played four times against them, though, scoring thrice and assisting twice on his way to wins in all of those games.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted a perfect hat-trick on the same day Sporting inched closer to 2023-24 Primeira Liga win
While Sporting CP eased past Portimonense on Saturday, their former player was wreaking havoc in the Middle East.
Cristiano Ronaldo marshalled his Al-Nassr team to a 6-0 thrashing of Al-Wehda in the Saudi Pro League on the same day. He did so by scoring a perfect hat-trick, netting with his right foot, head and left foot in the fifth, 12th and 52nd minutes.
Otavio (18') and Sadio Mane (45') scored between Ronaldo's second and third strikes, while Mohammed Al-Fatil also netted in the 88th minute.
The victory meant Al-Nassr stayed second in the league standings with 74 points from 30 matches. They are nine behind leaders Al-Hilal, who are unbeaten this season in the Saudi Pro League (27 wins and two draws) and have a game in hand.