Al Nassr club | All you need to know

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al Nassr after falling out with Manchester United in a 2.5-year deal. Here are things to know about the Saudi Club:

• Al-Nassr Club was established in 1955 and is located in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The club plays in the Saudi Professional League, which includes 16 teams.
   
• It finished third last season, 6 points behind champion Al-Hilal.
   
• Al-Nassr is the second-most successful team in the league with 9 titles, and its last title was in the 2018-2019 season. Only Al-Hilal, which is also based in Riyadh, has won the most league titles (18).
   
• Al-Nassr also won the King's Cup six times, the last of which was in 1990.
   
• Majed Abdullah (the league's top scorer throughout the ages) played for victory, and the former Saudi striker scored 189 goals, averaging almost a goal per game.
   
• Al-Nassr Stadium, which seats 25,000 people, is located in Marsool Park (formerly King Saud University).
   
• Saudi clubs won the AFC Champions League title six times, with Al-Hilal achieving a record four titles, while Al-Ittihad won the continental championship twice.
   
• Al-Nassr is currently coaching Frenchman Rudi Garcia, who previously trained Lille, Roma, Olympique de Marseille, and Olympique Lyonnais. Garcia has been in charge of the team since last June.
   
• Saudi Professional League clubs can register eight foreign players, but only seven can be selected for the match squad.
   
• The team includes other notable foreign players, including Cameroon World Cup champion Vincent Aboubakar, who changed the game against Serbia and scored the winning goal to stun Brazil in the final match of the group stage in Qatar 2022.
   
• Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina, who previously played with Arsenal and Napoli, is also in the squad, along with former Brazilian international midfielder Luiz Gustavo.
   
• Al-Nassr enters the year 2023 and is at the top of the league with 26 points after 11 matches, as it won 8 matches, lost only once, and tied twice. Al-Shabab is one point behind in second place and has a postponed match.
   
• Anderson Talisca, a Brazilian midfielder, is the team's top scorer this season with six goals, and he is also the tournament's joint-top scorer.
   
• With the AFC changing the format of the Champions League, Ronaldo's new team must now win the league this season to qualify for the group stage of the 2023-2024 edition, which is due to start next September.
   
• Teams will also be allowed to include up to six foreign players in their starting line-up in the AFC Champions League next season, and at least one of these players must be from another Asian country.
   

What can Ronaldo bring to Al Nassr?

• Ronaldo scored more than 700 club goals and more than 100 with Portugal, ranking him as the all-time top scorer with 819 goals.
   
• Despite Manchester United's struggles last season, veteran Ronaldo demonstrated that he still had some energy by finishing the season as the team's leading scorer with 24 goals, including 18 in the English Premier League.
   
• But Ronaldo struggled this season at Manchester United, scoring just three goals in all competitions before his departure.
   
• In Qatar, he became the first player to score in five World Cups but quickly lost his place in the starting line-up after Portugal reached the knockout stage.
   
• Scoring goals was not a problem for Al-Nassr this season, as the team scored 25 goals in the league after 11 rounds.

Cover Credits: PXFuel