The first time that Marcelo Gallardo and Cristiano Ronaldo saw each other was, curiously, in the first game that the Portuguese played in Saudi Arabia since his surprising arrival at the beginning of 2023. On that occasion, the Doll, who a few months ago had culminated his story in River, led the former Real Madrid and Manchester United in a team of stars from the local league that played a stellar friendly against PSG, which still had Lionel Messi. And just as they both started the year together, the penultimate match of the season had them face to face between Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad, where it was CR7 who emerged decisively victorious in a 5-2 win.
In this confrontation, the Portuguese again found the rival goal from the penalty spot, a situation where it became inevitable, to seal the partial tie of the match at 18 minutes, after Abderrazak Hamdallah had scored the first for the local team. . Later, at 23 minutes into the second half, another shot from 11 meters brought him closer to another record at 38 years old, to make the game 3-2. His double brought his total balance so far this year to 53 goals, one more than Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé, whose clubs, Bayern Munich and PSG, are already going through the Christmas brake in their leagues and will not be able to overcome it. The only one who can still do it is Erling Haaland, who has 50 goals and will play with Manchester City on Wednesday and Sunday.
CR7’s first goal for the partial 1-1
The contexts of both could not be more different. Cristiano is completing his first year in the Middle East, where despite the differences with respect to what he was used to in Europe, his scoring figures remain as relentless as ever, and he has his team, which he shares with figures such as Aymeric Laporte, Otávio, Marcelo Brozovic, Sadio Mané and his former England teammate Alex Telles, stalking Al-Hilal at the top. Gallardo, on the other hand, is still taking his first steps in the city of Jeddah, and despite also having names of the caliber of Karim Benzema, Fabinho, N’Golo Kanté and Romarinho, he is facing his first crisis in just a month. after assuming.
A true reflection of the difficulties of Al-Ittihad, who won just one game (3-0 against Auckland City in their debut in the Club World Cup) of their last five and is sixth in the Saudi Pro League, is in the team that the DT was forced to stop. He had to improvise with two players out of position in the center of defense like Hasan Kadesh and Fabinho, who had already played there during an injury crisis at Liverpool in 2020. Meanwhile, while rival coach Luis Castro was able to name a bench substitutes with the nine players required, Gallardo only has six.
The situation would get even more complicated for the former River player, when 21 minutes into the second half, Fabinho would see a second yellow card for slapping his opponent in the face. As if that were not enough, the match referee observed that the foul took place inside the area, so CR7 once again took advantage of the opportunity to, now, surpass his two competitors in the Old Continent and maintain his validity. Meanwhile, Gallardo finds himself in an increasingly uncomfortable position in his first experience outside of South America.
CR7’s second goal
Less than ten minutes later, the consequences of Al-Ittihad’s defense being even more diminished by the man less would begin to be seen, as Al-Nassr began to attack with much more ease and space. First, a bad setback left Talisca and Sadio Mané hand in hand with goalkeeper Abdullah Al Maiouf. The Brazilian, who already had a goal under his belt, gave the favor to the Senegalese, who made it 4-2. And then the former Liverpool and Bayern Munich increased the difference even more with a great pass from Otávio from the right, which he crowned with a subtle definition at the near post to sink Gallardo’s team even further.
The best of the match
After 18 dates, the Saudi tournament is led by Al Hilal, coached by the Portuguese Jorge Jesús, with 50 points and a formidable campaign of 16 wins and 2 draws; Al Nassr is the runner-up, 7 points behind, and Al Ittihad remains in sixth place, 22 points from the top.
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