Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, a player for the Saudi Arabian Al-Nasr, received an unexpected statement from the Frenchman Christophe Galtier, the coach of the Qatari Al-Duhail.
Al Alami Castle’s first football team is preparing to face its counterpart Al Duhail in the fourth round of the group stage of the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League.
The expected match will take place tomorrow evening, Tuesday, at eight o’clock Cairo time and nine o’clock Mecca time, at the Al Khalifa International Stadium, the stronghold of Al Duhail.
It is worth noting that the international team is in the fifth group of the group stage of the Asian Championship together with the clubs Al-Duhail from Qatar, Persepolis from Iran and Esteghlal from Tajikistan.
Riyadh Yellow are top of their group with 9 points, followed by Persepolis with 6 points, then Al Duhail are in third place with one point, while Esteghlal are at the bottom of the standings with no points.
Portuguese coach Luis Castro left Madeira out of the upcoming match to give the player a rest, given that he had already played several matches without stopping for a long time.
Al-Duhail coach’s exciting statement to Cristiano Ronaldo
Galthier spoke at the pre-match press conference about Ronaldo’s absence, saying: “He is a decisive player and played a big role in the departure.”
He stated: “But don’t forget that Global A big club with many great players like Talisca and Sadio Mane.”
He concluded: “Tomorrow we will play to win, and I hope that the rest of the results will work in our favor and we will try to add to that, and I will not talk about the team’s previous results.”