Cristiano Ronaldo rolls back the years with stunning showing to inspire nine-man Al-Nassr to glory

Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the show as he broke his two year trophy drought in guiding Al-Nassr to Arab Champions Cup glory.

The former Manchester United man failed to lift any silverware last season, despite scoring 14 goals in 16 league games. However, he put in a masterful performance reminiscent of his defining major European final performances as Al-Nassr won the Arab Club Champions Cup final, the premier club competition on the continent.

Al-Nassr faced fellow Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal in the final, who included recent Premier League duo Kalidou Koulibaly and Ruben Neves in their starting XI, as well as former Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. It was Al-Hilal who took the lead through Brazilian forward Michael in the 51st minute.

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Things went from bad to worse for Ronaldo and Al-Nassr when defender Abdulelah Al-Amri was shown a red card, 20 minutes later. That did not deter Ronaldo, though, who equalised with 15 minutes to play.

The forward barely had time to celebrate before VAR overturned a penalty awarded to Al-Hilal before Al-Nassr were reduced to nine men as Nawaf Boushal received the second red card of the game.

Al-Nassr held out until the final whistle, forcing extra time and it was cometh the hour cometh the man as Ronaldo scored what proved to be the winner in the 98th minute as the nine men held out. The Portugal international played a central role in his club’s path to the final, scoring in the 87th minute to send Al-Nassr through to the knockout rounds, as well as netting the only goal of the semi-final. Overall, he scored six goals in as many games in the competition.

Al-Nassr have little