Individually great, but where's team success? CR7 marks jubilee and loses another trophy with Al-Nassr

Same old, same old for Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia. Individually, he's doing great, as he managed to score his 100th goal in Al-Nassr's jersey in the Saudi Super Cup final against Al-Ahli. Yet, it wasn't enough for a trophy. The club from Jeddah managed to annul the rivals' lead twice, as Franck Kessie levelled after Ronaldo's goal, and Roger Ibanez equalized in the penultimate minute, after everyone thought Marcelo Brozovic's 83rd-minute strike would be the decisive one.

The penalty roulette was the one to determine the winner and Al-Ahli had better nerves. Al-Nassr's tragic figure in the end was Abdullah Al Khaibari, who was the only player to miss a shot from the spot in the entire series. This way, the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup remained CR7's only trophy with the Riyadh side.

After ten-man Al-Nassr stunned the Saudi Champions Al-Ittihad 2-1 and Al-Ahli confirmed the role of favourite by thrashing Al-Qadsiah 5-1 in two Saudi Super Cup semi-finals, the two winners were set to lock horns in a trophy match in Hong Kong.

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Despite playing without the suspended Sadio Mane, who was replaced in the lineup by the Brazilian Wesley, Al-Nassr were in control of the match from the beginning. Still, they managed to break the deadlock only four minutes before the break.

Al-Ahli's Ali Majrashi handballed in the area, and the ref pointed to the spot for a penalty, which Cristiano Ronaldo easily sent home, giving his team the lead and scoring his 100th goal in Al-Nassr's jersey. Yet, in the sixth minute of added time, former Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie found the far corner of Bento's goal, levelling the score with a lovely curler from the edge of the box.

The second 45 minutes started in the same way as the first ones - with a lot of tension. Three players - Wesley of Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli's Ivan Toney and Kessie - were booked before the break, and two more yellow cards were shown in the opening eight minutes after it - one on each side, to Marcelo Brozovic and Merih Demiral.

The fierce battle continued, the popular Global One dominated the game, Joao Felix wasted several chances, but the decisive goal was still out of reach. Until the 83rd minute!

The former Inter Milan midfielder, Marcelo Brozovic stole the ball near the opposite box, got closer to the target, and bagged a goal as if he was a renowned striker, bringing his crew on the brink of winning a trophy! Nevertheless, Al-Nassr's party was once again spoiled, this time by the Brazilian defender, Roger Ibanez, who managed to equalize in the dying minutes after a corner, sending the match to penalty shoot-out!

In the opening three series, all the takers were impeccable - Ronaldo, Brozovic, and Felix for Al-Nassr, and Toney, Kessie, and Riyad Mahrez for Al-Ahli. And then the fourth series turned out to be a decisive one. Firas Al Buraikan of Al Ahli scored, while Al-Nassr's Abdullah Al Khaibari missed and doomed his team. In the end, Galeno was the Jeddah club's hero, sending the last penalty home.