Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo leads his Saudi team, Al-Nassr, when it is a heavy guest on its brother Al-Ain, UAE, in an Arab-Gulf derby with an Asian flavour, this evening, Monday, in the first leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals for the current season.
Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium will host Al Ain’s summit against Al Nasr at six o’clock this evening, Cairo time.
Al Ain vs Al Nasr
Al-Nasr qualified for the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League by defeating Al-Fayhaa in the round of 16 with a score of 3-0 on aggregate, while Al-Ain qualified for this round at the expense of Nasaf of Uzbekistan with a score of 2-1.
Cristiano Ronaldo and his companions are searching for the first global title in the AFC Champions League with a battalion of stars in Al-Nasr.
Historically, the confrontation between Al-Nasr and Al-Ain will be the first of its kind in the Champions League in the knockout rounds, noting that the two teams met in the group stage of the 2020 edition, and the Saudi club won at home, and its Emirati counterpart at home as well.
Asian Champions League
The winner of the Emirati-Saudi summit, the winner of the Saudi Football Classico between Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal, is awaited in the semi-finals, from which he will represent the West in the final against one of the teams from the east of the yellow continent.
Al-Nasr coach Castro excluded Croatian Marcelo Brozovic, Senegalese Sadio Mane, and Brazilian Alex Telles from his calculations against Al-Ain, UAE, in the first leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals.
The Portuguese Castro settled on the foreign six: his compatriots Cristiano Ronaldo, Otavio Montero, the Colombian David Ospina, the Brazilian Anderson Talisca, and the Spaniard Aymeric Laporte, in addition to the Australian Aziz Behich, to rely on in the main roster against Al Ain of the Emirates.
The Al-Nasr team is superior to its Emirati competitor, Al-Ain, in marketing value, as the market value of the Al-Ain team is 31.79 million euros, according to the global “Transfer Market” website, while the Al-Nasr team is 144.03 million euros, meaning that it is superior to its Emirati opponent by 112.24 million euros.
