Is Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Al-Nassr against Abha tonight?
Cristiano Ronaldo could feature when Al-Nassr travel to take on Abha FC in the Saudi Pro League on Tuesday, April 2.
The Knights of Najd are coming into the game on the back of a 5-1 victory over Al-Tai at the weekend. Ronaldo was the star of the show on that occasion. The five-time Ballon d'Or netted his second hat-trick of the 2023-24 season by netting three goals in the second half to seal three points for his side.
This run of good form should see Cristiano Ronaldo maintain his place in the starting XI for the game against Abha. The Portugal skipper, however, did miss training ahead of the game on Tuesday evening.
According to reports, he skipped training not because of any injury concerns but instead trained by himself to quickly recover for the game against Abha.
It is, however, worth mentioning that manager Luis Castro will need to manage Ronaldo's workload as the fixtures come thick and fast in the latter stages of the season. Al-Nassr will play two league matches in the next five days before they face fierce rivals Al-Hilal in the semifinals of the Saudi Super Cup next Monday, April 8.
However, for the time being, it looks like Cristiano Ronaldo will feature against Abha on Tuesday. The former Real Madrid superstar could be partnered alongside the likes of Sadio Mane and Abdulrahman Ghareeb as part of a front-three. The latter also had a great outing against Al-Tai, scoring and assisting once in the game.
Despite the victory, Al-Nassr are slowly getting out of the title race in the Saudi Pro League. They are currently 12 points behind league leaders Al-Hilal with just five more matches remaining in the campaign.
Abha, on the other hand, are 17th and in the relegation zone, having picked up just 22 points from 25 games. They are currently on a two-game unbeaten run and are just two points off safety.
Cristiano Ronaldo didn't get on the scoresheet the last time Al-Nassr played Abha
Cristiano Ronaldo has enjoyed a stellar first full season in Saudi Arabia. The Al-Nassr superstar has scored 33 goals and provided 11 assists from just 34 matches across all competitions.
Despite dominating a host of opponents this season, the former Manchester United star didn't find the back of the net when he faced Abha earlier this season.
Al-Nassr played out a 2-2 draw against Abha back in October. Luis Castro's side were 2-0 up after 28 minutes with Otavio and Anderson Talisca getting on the scoresheet. The visitors, however, came back into the game and netted an injury-time equalizer to salvage a point.
Cristiano Ronaldo took six shots in the full 90 minutes that he played in but only two of them were on target. He lost possession on 13 separate occasions and was also caught offside five times.