Ronaldo suffers heaviest defeat as Al Ain rout Al Nassr 4-0

Cristiano Ronaldo suffered his heaviest defeat since joining Al Nassr as Al Ain thrashed the Saudi Pro League champions 4-0 in their opening AFC Champions League Elite fixture in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.

The defeat marked a nightmare return to Asia’s top club competition for Al Nassr, who were undone by a brace from Houssine Rahimi and further goals from his brother Soufiane Rahimi and Giorgos Giakoumakis.

Houssine opened the scoring in the 25th minute after capitalising on Saad Al-Nasser’s under-hit back-pass before doubling Al Ain’s advantage in the 63rd minute.

Soufiane then made it 3-0 in the 72nd minute, running onto Alejandro Romero’s through ball before firing into the bottom corner.

Giakoumakis completed the rout five minutes from time after Soufiane turned provider, rolling the ball into the path of the Greek forward, who converted from close range.

The result was Ronaldo’s heaviest defeat since his move to Al Nassr, according to reports following the match.

The Portuguese forward, who started alongside new Al Nassr signing João Félix, was unable to prevent his side from suffering a comprehensive defeat.

The loss also revived memories of Al Ain’s previous meeting with Al Nassr in the 2023/24 AFC Champions League. Al Ain eliminated Ronaldo’s side at the quarter-final stage after the tie ended 4-4 on aggregate, winning the decisive penalty shootout 3-1 in Riyadh.

Al Ain’s Giakoumakis said his side had expected a difficult contest.

“We knew it was going to be tough, we had to give it our all and I think we did that,” he said.

“We were really mature from the first to the last moment and we managed to score a good amount of goals and have a good victory.”

The defeat leaves Al Nassr without a point after the opening round of the 2026/27 AFC Champions League Elite league phase, while Al Ain begin their campaign with three points.

The expanded league phase features 16 teams, with the top eight advancing to the knockout rounds. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are scheduled to be played in Saudi Arabia in March, April and May.

Tosin Oyediran is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with over eight years of professional experience in reporting and storytelling. He is known for conducting incisive interviews and producing compelling human-angle stories that bring clarity and depth to the news. Tosin covers a broad range of beats including politics, health, advocacy, sports, and entertainment, with a strong focus on people-centred reporting. His work reflects firsthand newsroom experience, editorial insight, and a commitment to accurate, engaging, and trustworthy journalism.