Al Ain aim to make it another frustrating Champions League night for Ronaldo and Al Nassr

Al Ain defender Erik says replicating the endeavour shown last week against Al Nassr will be key to his side seeing off Cristiano Ronaldo and Co and advancing to the Asian Champions League semi-finals.

Al Ain, the 2003 champions, head into Monday’s quarter-final second leg in Riyadh with a 1-0 advantage after a deserved and hard-fought victory in the Garden City six days ago.

Hernan Crespo’s side gave one of their best performances of the season to prevail at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, with Sofiane Rahimi’s goal late in the first half proving decisive.

Nassr, though, promise to offer an even sterner test at their Al Awwal Park, with captain Ronaldo sure to play a prominent role following a frustrating night for the Portugal star in Al Ain.

“We know there is a different game, but it’s the same as we did in the first match,” Al Ain full-back Erik told The National. “If you make it simple but with doing everything very good, this is the secret. If you go with aggression, keep the ball, and try to play football, I think we can win there.

“Because you know the last games Al Nassr had at home, they lost. And, God willing, we can go and take a good result there.”

Indeed, Nassr go into the match off the back of Thursday’s Saudi Pro League defeat at home to Al Raed.

It marked the second successive home game in which they have dropped points – they drew 4-4 with bottom side Al Hazem on February 29 – with Nassr, second in the Saudi top-flight, slipping 12 points behind leaders Al Hilal.

Erik, a standout for Al Ain since joining in 2020, said his team are intent on maintaining the pressure in the Saudi capital on Monday night.

“Football is sometimes simple, but it is very difficult,” the Brazilian said. “We try to go with