Cristiano Ronaldo, with support of Mane and Co, under pressure to deliver SPL title

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Cristiano Ronaldo led the celebrations, aggravated knee suddenly alleviated, collecting the trophy and dancing a little jig towards teammates.

He had guided them, too, to King Salman Club Cup success, the title as much Ronaldo’s as it was Al Nassr’s. Just as he had done throughout the tournament, the Portuguese pulled back his side from the brink in the Saturday’s showpiece, levelling the Riyadh derby with Al Hilal and then deciding it. It was a captain’s contribution.

But, then again, Ronaldo had given as much across two weeks in the mountains to the south of Jeddah. He struck the goal that took Nassr through to the knockouts, then the winner in the semi-final. Ultimately, he grabbed both goals in the 2-1 comeback victory against Hilal in the final in Taif.

Consistently stepping up for his team, Ronaldo concluded the competition as top scorer, striking six times in his final five matches.

Little wonder the cameras at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium caught Ronaldo’s reaction, the disbelief clear on his face, when Sergej Milinkovic-Savic was announced as player of the tournament. The Hilal midfielder had two goals in all, and a runners'-up medal to boot.

Ronaldo, 38, knows how that feels. He took silver in his debut half-season in the kingdom when, despite an admirable 14 goals in 16 Saudi Pro League appearances, he could not prevent Nassr from finishing second.

The nine-time champions topped the league by the time Ronaldo debuted, amid the spotlight and the splendour, in January.

But Al Ittihad proved too strong, triumphed in the top-of-the-table clash in March and, from there, never relented. Ronaldo, recruited for a king’s ransom, could not drag