Fatigue Factor, Ronaldo Absent From Defending Al Nassr Vs Al Duhail In The Asian Champions League

JAKARTA - Captain Al Nassr, Cristiano Ronaldo, is confirmed to be absent from defending his team against Al Duhail on the fourth matchday of the Asian Champions League. Ronaldo's absence in the match which was held at the Khalifa International Stadium, Wednesday, November 8, early morning WIB was due to the condition of the star who was exhausted.

Previously Ronaldo had appeared in nine consecutive matches with Al Nassr in all competitions. The last time CR7 missed Al Nassr was during the King's Cup match against Ohod Club.

The schedule for playing nine times in a row makes Ronaldo, who is 38 years old, exhausted. While in the next number of matches, Al Nassr is faced with a number of important matches, including against Persepolis and Al Hilal.

"Absennya Ronaldo menghadapi Al Duhail karena kelelahan, dan lebih baik dia di rest setelah kami memainkan pertandingan hingga perpanjangan waktu, dan laga penting di liga," ujar pelatih Al Nass,r Luis Castro dikutip dari Arriyadiyah pada Selasa, 7 November.

Although Al Nassr will appear without Ronaldo, Luis Castro guarantees that a number of other mainstay players Al Nassr will play against Al Duhail. Only defender Aymeric Laporte was reportedly absent due to a leg injury.

"Even though Ronaldo is absent, Al Nasr has a strong attack line, and we are trying to do our best to secure qualification for the next round," Castro said.

The Portuguese coach emphasized that even without Ronaldo and Laporte, Al Nassr did not underestimate Al Duhail, who is now in third place in Group E.

"Currently we are in a good situation and a big challenge awaits us. And the match against Al Duhail is one of the challenges we look forward to, and we realize that the duel will be difficult because it's against a team that reached the semifinals (last season)," Castro said.