Al-Riyadiah newspaper reported that Cristiano Ronaldo will not participate in the match between Al-Nassr and Istiklol Dushanbe in the final round of the AFC Champions League groups.
The decision to exclude "The Don" from the confrontation came from coach Luis Castro, who saw the need to give special rest to the Portuguese star after the injury he suffered in order to play in the Riyadh derby last Friday.
Ronaldo suffered a neck injury against Persepolis last week, but he recovered from it (not completely) and participated in Al-Nassr’s first loss since last August, at the hands of Al-Hilal 3-0 in the Saudi League.
The Esteghlal match does not represent any importance for Al-Nassr, as the Yellow Club secured qualification to the round of 16 as the leader of the group, so Castro believes that the best option for everyone is to rest Ronaldo, especially since the December match schedule is very crowded.
Ronaldo will not be the only one absent from Al-Nassr from the match, as Castro decided to rest a large number of his team’s players, while Alex Telles is sidelined due to injury, and Ali Lajmi and Marcelo Brozovic are suspended from the match.
It is noteworthy that Al-Nassr leads its group standings with 13 points, while the closest follower is Persepolis, which has 8 points.
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