Cristiano Ronaldo has won his first trophy since 2021 by leading Al Nassr to a remarkable victory in the Arab Club Champions Cup final.
Al Nassr beat Saudi rivals Al-Hilal 2-1 after extra time on Saturday despite playing for more than an hour with just 10 men.
Brazilian winger Michael headed Al-Hilal in front early in the second half before Al Nassr reduced to 10 men for a last-man foul by Abdulelah Al-Amri in the 71st minute.
But Ronaldo equalized to force extra time before netting again to seal a dramatic turnaround.
Summer signings Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic all featured for Al-Hilal, while Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozovic and Alex Telles started for Al Nassr.
Salem Al-Dawsari had the first chance of the game but ballooned a shot high and wide under pressure from two Al Nassr defenders.
Al-Hilal keeper Mohammed Alowais then pulled off a superb save to deny Brozovic his first goal for Al Nassr following a fine cross by Mane.
Alowais was called upon twice more before half-time. He kept out a powerful 20-yard effort from Abdullah Al Khaibari before thwarting Ronaldo from close range.
After being second best during the first half, Al-Hilal took the lead five minutes into the second period.
Michael opened the scoring with a diving header before imitating Ronaldo’s famous ‘SIU’ goal celebration. Ronaldo would later respond.
Al Nassr’s hopes of a comeback appeared to be fading when center-back Al-Amri was dismissed.
But Al Nassr defied their numerical advantage to draw level almost immediately after going down to 10 men when Sultan Al-Ghannam’s low cross set up Ronaldo, who celebrated by waving is finger directly at Michael.
