Joao Cancelo made an immediate impact for Al-Hilal, scoring his first goal for the Saudi Arabian club in a 3-1 victory over Al-Rayyan in the Asian Champions League. The match saw goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Marcos Leonardo for Al-Hilal, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr drew 1-1 in their opening game. Meanwhile, other matches in the tournament saw dominant performances from South Korean and Chinese teams.
Cristiano Ronaldo will miss Al Nassr’s opening Asian Champions League match against Al Shorta in Iraq due to a viral infection. The Portuguese star was diagnosed with the illness and is currently resting at home. He is targeting the Asian club crown as his next trophy, but will have to wait for his debut in the competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo is missing from Al Nassr’s starting lineup for their Asian Champions League opener against Al Shorta in Iraq. Find out why Ronaldo is sidelined and see the predicted lineups for both teams.
UAE’s Al-Ain has advanced to the final of the Asian Champions League after overcoming Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia with a 5-4 aggregate victory in the semifinals. Despite Al-Hilal’s 2-1 victory in the second leg, they were unable to overturn the 4-2 deficit from the first leg, marking the fourth Saudi Pro League club to be eliminated from the knockout stages since February.
Harry Kewell, former Liverpool winger, believes his Yokohama F. Marinos team can replicate the magic of his 2005 Istanbul triumph with Liverpool and achieve greatness in the Asian Champions League semi-final second leg on Wednesday. Despite suffering an early injury in the legendary Champions League final, Kewell played a pivotal role in Liverpool’s historic comeback victory over AC Milan. Now, as manager of Yokohama F. Marinos, Kewell seeks to guide his team to similar heights in continental competition.
