Al Ahli Dan Al Nassr Pastikan Tempat Di Fase Meninggalkan Liga Champions Asia Elite

Cristiano Ronaldo leads Al Nassr's victory in the AFC Champions League Elite (Instagram/@alnassr).

JAKARTA - Two Saudi Arabian Pro League clubs, Al Ahlik and Al Nassr, have confirmed their place in the last 16 of the Asian Elite Champions League or AFC Champions League Elite 2024/2025.

Both are now at the top two of the Western Regional standings. Victory on Monday, November 25, 2024, WIB night, bringing Al Expert and Al Nassr points at this time will not be able to throw them out of the top eight even though they still have three matches remaining in the group phase.

As is known, the top eight teams in groups, West and East, will qualify for the knockout stages.

Al Ahli led the standings with 15 points from five matches, aka perfect. Meanwhile, Al Nassr, who was strengthened by Cristiano Ronaldo, was in second place with 13 points from four wins and one series.

In a match that just finished in the early hours of Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Ronaldo became the actor in Al Nassr's victory.

Ronaldo scored two goals in Al Nassr's win at home to Al Gharafa with a score of 3-1.

The captain did appear disappointing in the first 45 minutes. However, just a minute into the second half, he immediately opened Al Nassr's lead.

Ronaldo headed the ball to open the tap of his team's goal. Angelo Gabriel then distanced his lead after tricking goalkeeper Sergio Rico in the 58th minute.

Al Nassr only needed six minutes to score his third goal. Ronaldo was on the scoreboard again in the 64th minute before Al Gharafa scored a consolation goal in the 75th minute through Joselu.

Al Nassr will try to extend their winning record against another Qatari team, Al Sadd, on Tuesday next week.

Shifting to Al Expert, their new striker, Ivan Toney led the team's victory despite coming off the bench.

Brace Toney brought Al Expert's victory over host Al Ain with a score of 2-1 at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.

Toney only entered in the 65th minute to replace Al Brikan's Feras. Five minutes after taking to the field, the former Brentford forward immediately opened up the team's lead.

He headed for Riyad Mahrez's free kick which goalkeeper Khalid Eisa failed to block. Toney only needed four minutes to put Al Ahli 2-0 ahead in collaboration with Mahrez.

Al Ain could only reply to one goal in the 90+3 minute through Alejandro Romero.

Al Ahli's victory over Al Ain completes their perfect record in the group stage. Meanwhile, Al Ain, who was on matchday before being silenced by Al Nassr 1-5, slumped at the bottom of the standings, aka 12th place with one point.

As a result, Al Ain (Union of the Arab Emirates), who won the Asian Elite Champions League the previous season, 2023/2024, is in danger of failing to qualify for the knockout phase.

There are still three remaining group stage matches in the Western Region of the 2024/2025 Asian Elite Champions League.

Even so, Al Ahli and Al Nassr made sure to qualify for the knockout stages early. If they lose in the last three matches, both positions will not be out of the top eight.

With the current points, the worst position Al Expert will get in the final standings is fifth place. While Al Nassr finished the worst in sixth place in the final standings.