The AFC Champions League was eliminated by Kawasaki Frontale, and Ronaldo won one of the ten events in his career

The reporter reported coldly Riyadh Victory, whose starting 11 is worth 135 million euros, was upset 2-3 by Kawasaki Frontale, who was only worth 5.53 million euros, in Jeddah's "semi-home" and missed the AFC Champions League final. Not only was the dream of the Saudi team meeting in the final shattered, but Ronaldo's "winless nightmare" after joining Riyadh in early 2023 continued. Since losing to Jeddah United in the Saudi Super Cup in January 2023, Ronaldo has failed to win all ten official matches in Riyadh. If you count the five rounds to go, but it is already as many as eight points behind the leader Jeddah United, and the Saudi league this season, which has almost no hope of winning the championship, it will miss out on 11 trophies.

After the game, Ronaldo's social media account posted "Sometimes dreams need to wait", but his dream of winning the championship in Saudi Arabia has been waiting too long. Cristiano Ronaldo hit the crossbar with a header in the first half and missed three chances in stoppage time in the second half. Kawasaki Frontale mixed-race goalkeeper Rui Yamaguchi first blocked Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kick, then fell to the ground to confiscate his long-range shot, and Ronaldo's shot in the box was interfered with by the attacking Rui Yamaguchi, and the ball was cleared by central defender Yuichi Maruyama in front of the goal.

Italian coach Stefano Pioli started the same 7 foreign players as the 4-1 victory over Yokohama Mariner in the quarterfinals, but Kawasaki Frontale, who narrowly defeated Sade 3-2 in overtime in the quarterfinals, rested in the first half of the five main players to ensure physical fitness, and only one foreign aid was Brazilian striker Marsinho. Franco-Japanese goalkeeper Rui Yamaguchi and Dutch-Japanese right-back Van Wemeskken Ji are both homegrown players trained in Japanese football. Despite the disparity in value, the number of starters was as high as 1-7 in the second half and as high as 1-9 in the second half, Kawasaki Frontale clearly learned the lesson of the Yokohama Mariners, strengthened the defense and strengthened the pressing, and improved the efficiency of the counterattack.

In the opening 10 minutes, Tatsuya Ito scored the first goal with a long-range shot from the penalty line, and in the 28th minute, Mane relied on his personal ability to cut inside to equalize. However, in the 41st minute, French central defender Simakan made a mistake in clearing, and Brazilian goalkeeper Bento saved Tatsuya Ito's one-handed ball, and Yusho Oseki scored a follow-up shot. In the 44th minute, Pioli replaced Laporte and Angelo in a row, Riyadh Victory attacked with 9 foreign aids, and at the beginning of the second half, Kawasaki Frontale also replaced Taito Wakisaka and Brazilian striker Erizon to deal with it, and in the 76th minute, Erisson broke through the penalty area to assist Akihiro to expand the score. Yahya scored the second goal for Riyadh victory in the 87th minute, but Kawasaki Frontale withstood the pressure at the end.

After the game, Ronaldo's 3-minute annoyance video of using his hands and feet and talking to himself instantly went viral on social media platforms. Ronaldo's "gaffe" after the game was also interpreted by many fans as a complete disappointment with the entire team. After all, it was a shame to lose to Kawasaki Frontale, who was only worth 1/24 of the Riyadh victory and had just finished 120 minutes three days earlier. The Saudi media were very dissatisfied with Ronaldo's performance, and the Portuguese was only ranked 9th in the team after the game. Cristiano Ronaldo had just two of his eight shots on target, four of which were off target and one of the post, missing two absolute goalscoring chances. The closest point to scoring came in the 34th minute, when a header bounced off the crossbar and post.

Despite scoring eight goals in eight AFC Champions League games, Ronaldo missed a total of 10 chances, the highest statistic in the rankings. However, after the game, Italian coach Stefano Pioli still chose to defend Ronaldo: "What is unexpected is the performance of the whole team, not the performance of the striker." ”

The Saudi media believes that Pioli's mistakes in the formation are the main reason for the exit, and the Italian coach insists on putting the stronger Spanish central defender Laporte on the bench, and the Saudi international central defender Rajami, who has made many mistakes against the Yokohama Mariners, continues to start, and there is only Hassan in the back, giving the opponent too many opportunities to counterattack. Two substitutions before the end of the first half, as well as the accumulation of six wingers in the second half, proved that Pioli's tactical deployment failed. The AFC Champions League is out, the league championship is hopeless, and Pioli, who took the initiative to take responsibility after the game, may not be guaranteed.

This is Cristiano Ronaldo's 10th consecutive trophy missed after joining Riyadh Victory more than two years ago. Among them, there are 3 Saudi Super Cup and 3 King's Cup, 2 league champions and 2 AFC Champions League champions. Although 33 goals and 4 assists in 38 games this season, almost 1 goal per game, Riyadh Victory has been out of the Saudi Super Cup, the Copa del Rey and the AFC Champions League, and there are still 5 rounds of the league 8 points behind Jeddah United, and the championship is basically hopeless. The only trophy that Cristiano Ronaldo won in Riyadh was the Arab Champions Cup in the summer of 2023, which was not played unofficially.

With the arrival of the third championship-free season, Riyadh Victory will experience new turmoil, and Ronaldo's contract extension with Riyadh Victory will also be overshadowed - the Portuguese superstar has been rumored to be at odds with coach Stefano Pioli and asked the club to bring in more top stars.

Since 1995, Riyadh Victory has failed to reach the AFC Champions League final nine times in 20 years. In 2020, 2021 and this year, they all reached the top four, and this defeat made Kawasaki Frontale, who participated in the AFC Champions League for the 11th time, enter the AFC Champions League final for the first time, and is also the eighth Japanese team to reach the AFC Champions League final. Jeddah Nationals, who will compete with Kawasaki Frontale for the AFC Champions League trophy in the final, disappointed Riyadh Victory fans even more. Because this team has made three big moves in three years: in the 2022/23 season it was in the Saudi second division, last season it was promoted to the first division, and this season it reached the AFC Champions League final. In contrast, Riyadh Victory has invested at least 500 million euros in Cristiano Ronaldo, but has not been able to get a trophy.