Cristiano Ronaldo blasts Saudi teammates after conceding four goals in 17 minutes

Cristiano Ronaldo has been critical of his Al-Nassr teammates after their second-half defeat to Al-Hilal on Saturday. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner failed to lead his team to victory in the Saudi Super Cup final despite scoring the opening goal of the game.

Ronaldo opened the scoring with a close-range shot just before the break, giving Al-Nassr the lead in their bid to win their first trophy of the season. However, a dramatic second-half collapse saw them concede four goals in the space of just 17 minutes.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic equalised with a fine finish before Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice in six minutes to put Al-Hilal in complete control. Malcom added a fourth soon after, robbing Al-Nassr goalkeeper Bento and rounding him before slotting the ball into an empty net.

Ronaldo was frustrated with the way his team collapsed and made his feelings clear as his teammates returned to their own half of the pitch. He clasped his hands in a “sleeping” gesture before waving his arms in frustration while berating his teammates.

With the result, Al-Hilal won the Saudi Super Cup for the second year in a row, having beaten Al-Ittihad in the final last year. Ronaldo and his team-mates will simply have to lick their wounds and pull themselves together before they kick off their league campaign against Al-Raed next week.

It came days after Ronaldo was left red-faced before scoring his first goal of the season for Al-Nassr in a comfortable win over Al-Taawoun. He stepped up to take a free-kick from a promising position but sent it over the crossbar, with the opposition goalkeeper making no attempt to stop it.

As he stood over the ball, Ronaldo was seen giving himself a pep talk, confidently saying in Portuguese: “I am the best.” His words of motivation failed to have the desired impact, however, as the ball flew harmlessly into the stand behind the goal.

Ronaldo then managed to redeem himself by scoring a lovely goal to open his account for the new season in style. Al-Nassr eventually won 3-1 to reach the Saudi Super Cup final, but their efforts were ultimately in vain as they lost to Al-Hilal.

The former Manchester United ace scored 44 goals in 45 games last season and will be hoping to enjoy another prolific campaign this time around. He will be equally desperate to lead Al-Nassr to glory in the Saudi Pro League after narrowly missing out on victory against Al-Hilal at the end of the 2023/24 season.