“I would like Al Nassr since Cristiano Ronaldo is there” - Mumbai City FC players make feelings clear ahead of AFC Champions League draw
Mumbai City FC players would like to see Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr or Neymar's Al Hilal drawn into their AFC Champions League group this season.
The AFC Champions League draw takes place on Thursday (August 24) at 4pm IST. The group stage starts in September, with the finals in May 2024.
Ahead of the draw, Mumbai City FC asked some of their players to name the club they are looking forward to facing in the group stage.
Apuia Ralte said:
"First of all, I would like Al Nassr since [Cristiano] Ronaldo is there. So, Al Nassr. And Al Hilal."
Rostyn Griffiths, Jayesh Rane, Yoell van Nieff, Mohammad Nawaz, Mehtab Singh, and Ayush Chhikara also claimed that they are looking forward to facing the Saudi teams after the influx of top European players this summer.
Mumbai City FC are in Pot 3 of the West Zone and can face one of Al Halil or Al Nassr in the group stage. While Cristiano Ronaldo's side are in Pot 4 of the draw, Neymar's Al Hilal are in Pot 1.
Al Ittihad, who added the likes of Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, and Fabinho, are also in Pot 1. Al Fayha are the 4th Saudi Pro League side in the draw and will be in Pot 2.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr were almost knocked out in Play-Offs
Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr needed three goals in the last few minutes to seal a stunning 4-2 win over Shabab Al-Ahli. Anderson Talisca opened the scoring in the 11th minute, but Yahya Al-Chassani scored once in both halves to help Al-Ahli take the lead.
Al Nassr kept pushing for an equalizer in the second half but needed to wait until the 88th minute to get back on level terms. Sultan Al-Ghannam scored the goal to keep the game alive before Talisca scored in the 95th minute to turn it on its head.
Cristiano Ronaldo could not get on the scoresheet in the Play-Off game but got an assist at the end. In the game's 97th minute, Marcelo Brozovic scored thanks to the Portuguese star to seal a stunning 4-2 win for Al Nassr and book their place in the draw.