Al Nassr lost again
Ronaldo kicks the striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation. In the 84 minutes of being on the field, the 38-year-old striker played quite faintly. Rookie Marcelo Brozovic was also ranked as the main kick by coach Luis Castro, but could not help Al Nassr avoid a big defeat.
Many fans look forward to the reunion between Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria, two players who were teammates at Real Madrid. But only Di Maria embodies the qualities of the once-star.
In the 23rd minute, Di Maria opened the scoring for Benfica after a smashing combination with Rafa Silva. The Argentine midfielder dribbled past defender Al Nassr before hitting the ball past goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi. This was the first goal Di Maria scored for Benfica after returning to this club in early July. Not long after, he made a mark again. This time it was a heel strike to let Silva assist Goncalo Ramos to score.
While Ronaldo was alone at the top, all attempts to pull the ball up by Al Nassr were unsuccessful. The Saudi Arabian club paid the price for the idea of the toy from the home field when the players often passed errors. From such a situation, Alexander Bah won the ball and passed it to Ramos to complete the double.
Before halftime, Al Nassr pulled back a goal. After winning the dispute at home, the away team organized a quick counterattack. Anderson Talisca opened the ball and Khalid Al Ghannam, with a calm handling, removed two Benfica defenders before shooting into the home team's net. In this situation, Ronaldo moved to the left to attract the Benfica defense, contributing to the goal.
Despite his best efforts, Al Nassr could not score more goals in the second half. On the contrary, they conceded another goal in the 68th minute. Al-Aqidi could not catch Chiquinho's cross and Andreas Schjelderup was in the right position to kick back.
Three days ago, Al Nassr also lost heavily to Spanish club Celta Vigo 0-5. Ronaldo and his teammates will play two more friendly matches, against PSG on July 25 and Inter on July 27, before returning to Saudi Arabia to meet Al Shabab in the Arab Club Champions Cup on July 29.
