Al Hilal continues to be the Achilles Heel for Al Nassr. For the third consecutive time this season, Jorge Jesus’ men emerged triumphant against the Knights of Najd. Unsurprisingly, despite the impressive performance by the Saudi League leaders, the headlines were dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese superstar received the 14th red card of his career in the closing moments of the game. CR7 didn’t hold back from expressing how furious he was with the referee on his way off as well. However, according to Al Hilal’s coach, Ronaldo’s outburst was a ‘natural’ reaction of a player who ends up usually on the winning side.

In the post-match presser, the rival coach only had words of praise and empathy for the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner. Jorge Jesus said, “Ronaldo is one of the most important players in the world and is a role model for many.” He added, “Cristiano (Ronaldo) is not accustomed to losing during his career. It is natural for him to lose his temper when he loses, as well as to lose emotional and mental focus in matches in which he loses.”

Jesus did have a point regarding Cristiano Ronaldo’s winning mentality. However, it is also worth noting that this was no ordinary loss for Al Nassr. Having been knocked out of the AFC Champions League and being 2nd to Al Hilal in the league, the Super Cup was possibly Al Nassr’s best chance to secure a trophy.

Meanwhile, Al Nassr boss Luis Castro was also questioned on Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card incident. Unlike Jesus, the incident had nothing to do with CR7’s mentality per Castro. Rather he claimed that the incident was an act of provocation.

Cristiano Ronaldo was ‘provoked’, says Luis Castro

Luis Castro believes that Cristiano Ronaldo did not deserve the red card. In the post-match press conference, he said, “It is difficult to talk about the incident in which Ronaldo received the red card, and we saw several clips earlier in the season in which Ronaldo was provoked, and after seeing some of the pictures Ronaldo did not do anything that deserved to be sent off, and the opposing player acted.”

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Although Al Nassr was 1-0 down and Cristiano Ronaldo was frustrated, that was not the reason Ronaldo decided to elbow an opposition player. It all started when Al Hilal defender Ali Albulayhi made a cynical challenge on Abdul Rahman Ghareeb. As Albulayhi picked up the ball, The 39-year-old sprung from behind and snatched the ball. This fired up the Al Hilal defender who confronted Ronaldo. In an attempt at self-defense, CR7 elbowed Albulayhi who fell on the ground. Hence, while Ronaldo was not pleased with the result, it was this confrontation that pushed him over the edge.

Currently, Al Nassr sits in second place behind Al Hilal with a 12-point difference, and their next game is against Al Feiha on April 19th.

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