Al Nassr Without Cristiano Ronaldo Losed Opening AFC Champions League Game
Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr missed Cristiano Ronaldo as the revamped Asian Champions League kicked off Monday with a 1-1 draw at Iraq's Al Shorta. The absence of Al Nassr captain Ronaldo can be spotted as the Portuguese superstar was not included in backmigration to Baghdad, indicating that trainer Rui Vitoria had announced in a statement issued by the club 24 hours before that Ronaldo had been infected with a viral infection. Al Ghannam, who scored for Al Nassr when they lost to UAE's Al Ain in last season's Asian Champions League quarter-finals, gave the Saudi outfit a dream start in Baghdad - rounding off a quick break involving Otavio with composure 14 minutes in.
The hosts leveled 10 minutes later though.
Confusion in defense caused by recent recruit Salem Al Najdi and ex-RB Leipzig center-back Mohamed Simakan saw AL Shorta forward Mohammed Dawood nip ahead of Bento to lift an excellent finish high into the roof of the Portuguese's net.
In Jeddah, Al Ahli - another Saudi team - was able to grind out a less-than-convincing 1-0 win through new recruit Ivan Toney, who was making his Asian football debut.
The Ivorian fired the home side in front after just two minutes thanks to an assist from Riyad Mahrez.
Persepolis then won a penalty four minutes before the break, given after Demiral was penalized for a foul in the area but overturned by VAR.
The first half was chaotic, yet ended goalless before Toney won a penalty for Al Ahli early in the second half after being tripped by rival defender Hossein Kanani. Mahrez stepped up to take it and saw his effort saved well by Persepolis goalkeeper Alexis Guendouz.
Up to October 2023, is the date on which you have been trained.
Last month, Premier League club Brentford made a high-profile signing by England international Toney, who narrowly missed an opportunity to score his first goal five minutes from full-time but shot wide.
Last Friday was his debut with Al Ahli.
Meanwhile, Al Ain started their title defense with a 1-1 draw at home to Qatar’s Al Sadd.
The first goal came in the hour from Akram Afif—2019 Asian Football of the Year and player of this tournament at the Asian Cup this year—who scored for UAE’s reigning champions Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.
Argentina’s Matias Palacios earned a point for Al Ain in the 80th minute.
In other matches played on Monday, Iran’s Esteghlal beat Qatari side Al Gharafa 3-0
This new format has 24 teams competing—12 from West Asia and the other 12 hailing from East Asia.
Each club plays four home and four away matches with the top eight progressing to knockout stages early next year from both parts of the draw separately based on an aggregate scorekeeping system.
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