Cristiano Ronaldo Under Fire at Al-Nassr After AFC Champions League Defeat

Cristiano Ronaldo’s position at Al-Nassr has come under renewed fire in the wake of the club’s bruising 4-0 collapse against Al-Ain in the opening round of the AFC Champions League Elite.

The defeat was bad. The reaction has been worse.

Al-Nassr looked off the pace and out of ideas against the UAE side, and when the dust settled, much of the anger landed squarely on their captain. Sections of the club’s own support turned on Ronaldo, while media voices questioned his impact on the biggest stage and accused him of failing to rise to the occasion against Al-Ain.

Now, a familiar figure has stepped into the debate – and he has not held back.

“A spent card”

Former Al-Nassr spokesman Saud Al-Sarami used his appearance on the “Al-Arabiya FM” programme to cast doubt over Ronaldo’s future and even floated the idea of a January exit.

“Ronaldo will not play any non-technical role with Al-Nassr,” Al-Sarami said, stressing that he sees no off-field or symbolic function for the Portuguese star beyond his on-pitch contribution. “I do not rule out that he may leave the club in the winter Mercato, as happened with Karim Benzema previously, and this will happen entirely of his own accord.”

Then he pushed the criticism up a gear.

“Ronaldo has become a spent card and is unable to provide anything with Al-Nassr, and he must leave,” Al-Sarami declared, using language that underlined just how far his opinion of the forward’s usefulness has fallen.

For Al-Sarami, the heavy defeat to Al-Ain did not just expose a bad night. It exposed a bigger problem.

Rebuild over reputation

Al-Sarami argued that Al-Nassr need to “reorder” their priorities after the loss, pointing to structural flaws in the squad that the Al-Ain match laid bare. In his view, Ronaldo’s departure would not simply be an end, but an opportunity.

Losing such a high-profile figure, he suggested, could free the club to reshape key areas of the team, with midfield singled out as the department most in need of reinforcement. The 4-0 reverse has, in his eyes, underlined the need for fresh energy and balance rather than continued reliance on star power.

The remarks drop at a time when Al-Nassr are already under intense scrutiny, their performance in the AFC Champions League Elite opener raising serious questions about their readiness to compete at the highest level in Asia.

For now, though, Al-Sarami’s talk of a winter exit remains exactly that – talk. His comments reflect his personal expectations and interpretation of the situation. There has been no official word from Al-Nassr’s hierarchy on Ronaldo’s future, no signal from the club that a January parting of ways is on the table.

The storm around their captain is growing. The decision, as ever, will come from inside the club – and from Ronaldo himself.