Years After Cristiano Jr’s Brutal Jibe, Yassine Bounou Gets Revenge on Cristiano Ronaldo as Al Hilal Beats Al Nassr on Penalties

It’s over for Al Nassr! The Knights of the Najd lost the King Cup of Champions final against Al Hilal on penalties. Luis Castro’s side would be ending their season with a single trophy. However, beyond the win, rival goalkeeper Yassine Bounou seized a moment of sweet revenge against none other than Cristiano Ronaldo, years after Cristiano Jr. had taken a cheeky dig at the Al Hilal star.

In tonight’s enthralling match, the former Sevilla man was successfully able to stop the Portuguese superstar from finding the back of the net. Aside from making crucial saves during the whole 90 minutes and extra time, Bono also stood out in the penalty shootout. Interestingly, this wasn’t the case a few years ago. Having spent four seasons with Girona before securing a loan move to Sevilla, Bounou faced Ronaldo on numerous occasions in both domestic and international matches.

However, their most memorable encounter occurred during the 2017/18 La Liga season, where Ronaldo scored his 50th career hat trick with his four goals to lead Real Madrid to a 6-3 victory over Girona at the Bernabeu against Bounou. Reflecting on this encounter, the Al Hilal goalkeeper recalled an interaction he had with CR7’s son, Cristiano Jr., after the match, who playfully teased him about the loss during this away fixture. Bounou said, “I remember that he scored 4 goals against me at the Bernabéu. After the match, he was with his son and his son told me: My father scored four goals against you”.

However, today, Ronaldo stood no chance whatsoever against Bono, as the goalkeeper also replied to the icon’s son with his man of the match for Al Hilal, despite many setbacks unfolding during the installment.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. lament as Al Hilal shines in the King Cup of Champions against Al Nassr

From the start of the match, Al Hilal exhibited their dominance against Al Nassr. Within 7 minutes, Aleksander Mitrovic broke the deadlock for the Blue Waves. But that didn’t stop Luis Castro and Co. from making rallying efforts to find an equalizer. One moment saw Cristiano Ronaldo try a stunning free kick from a cross, which unfortunately hit the right post. Sadly, in the midst of leveling the scoreline, Al Nassr was down to 10 men as David Ospina was sent off near the hour mark.

Instead of the scoreline, it was the number of players that leveled, as in the 87th minute, Al Hilal’s defender Ali Albulayhi was also shown a red card. Simultaneously, a minute later, Al Nassr capitalized on this incident as substitute Ayman Yahya finally found the leveler to take the match to extra time. Before the final whistle, things went downhill for the Blue Waves as Kalidou Koulibaly was also sent off, bringing them to 9 men. Even in the extra time, neither side could find a winner.

The penalty shootout is where things went south for Al Nassr. Despite Ruben Neves missing the opening kick, Alex Telles followed suit. The shootout remained tied at 4-4 as players from both sides failed to find a winner. However, in the seventh round, an Al Hilal star netted to make it 5-4, while Yassine Bounou saved Al Nassr’s shot, securing the victory for Jorge Jesus and Co. It was undoubtedly a wonderful night for Al Hilal, especially for Yassine Bounou, who fulfilled his prophecy of seeking revenge against Cristiano Ronaldo.