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Cristiano Ronaldo will line-up in the Asian Champions League proper after Al-Nassr secured a remarkable turnaround to beat UAE outfit Shabab Al-Ahli 4-2 in their qualifying tie.
Despite finishing second in the Saudi Pro League last season, Al-Nassr didn’t receive one of the division’s three spots to go directly into the group stage of the continental competition – missing out to Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal and Al-Fayha.
They faced Shabab Al-Ahli, who won the league title in the UAE and had overcome Al-Wehdat from Jordan in the previous qualifying round.
Al-Nassr began the clash at Al-Awwal Park well, with Anderson Talisca opening the scoring after just 11 minutes when he was set up by new recruit Marcelo Brozovic.
However, despite dominating the clash with 73 percent of possession, they soon found themselves behind, with two goals from Yahya Alghassani either side of half-time putting the visitors ahead.
Ronaldo appeared to be visibly frustrated at times during the clash as he was seen remonstrating with the officials after having a penalty appeal down.
It looked like the Portuguese superstar would be absent from the Champions League this season with his side still trailing after 88 minutes, but team-mate Sultan Al-Ghannam equalised in dramatic fashion to keep his side’s hopes alive.
The game headed into seven minutes of injury time and it looked like extra-time would be on the cards, before Brazilian midfielder Talisca scored again after 95 minutes to edge Al-Nassr ahead.
Brozovic then added the cherry on top, with Ronaldo teeing up the Croatian two minutes after Talisca’s finish to send the homes fans into raptures and his side into the group stage.
The result was a huge relief for Luis Castro’s outfit who have endured a disastrous start to the campaign.
Ronaldo and Co have begun the league season with two defeats – to Al-Ettifaq and Al-Taawoun – and are one of four teams still to pick up a point, despite significant investment over the summer that has seen the likes of Sadio Mane, Brozovic, Otavio, Alex Telles and Seko Fofana arrive.
They will now eagerly await the Champions League group stage draw and hope this result kickstarts their league form.
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