By Opeyemi Adelakun
Cristiano Ronaldo endured his heaviest defeat since joining Al Nassr as Al Ain opened their 2026/27 AFC Champions League Elite campaign with a commanding 4-0 victory over the Saudi Pro League champions in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
The result handed Al Nassr a disastrous start to their continental campaign, with the Saudi side unable to find a response after Al Ain took control of the contest.
Houssine Rahimi put the hosts ahead in the 25th minute after capitalising on an under-hit back-pass from Saad Al-Nasser.
The Al Ain forward doubled the advantage in the 63rd minute before his brother, Soufiane Rahimi, extended the lead seven minutes later.
Soufiane ran onto a through ball from Alejandro Romero and calmly finished into the bottom corner to make it 3-0.
Giorgos Giakoumakis completed the rout five minutes from full-time after Soufiane turned provider, rolling the ball into the path of the Greek striker, who finished from close range.
Ronaldo started the encounter alongside new Al Nassr signing João Félix but could not prevent his team from suffering a comprehensive defeat.
The result was reported as Ronaldo’s heaviest loss since his move to Al Nassr.
The defeat also brought back memories of the clubs’ meeting in the 2023/24 AFC Champions League, when Al Ain eliminated Al Nassr at the quarter-final stage. The tie ended 4-4 on aggregate before Al Ain prevailed 3-1 on penalties in Riyadh.
Giakoumakis said Al Ain had prepared for a difficult contest and praised his teammates for maintaining their discipline throughout the match.
“We knew it was going to be tough, we had to give it our all and I think we did that,” he said.
“We were really mature from the first to the last moment and we managed to score a good amount of goals and have a good victory.”
The victory gave Al Ain three points from the opening round, while Al Nassr left the United Arab Emirates without a point.
The 2026/27 AFC Champions League Elite league phase features 16 teams, with the top eight advancing to the knockout rounds. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final are scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia in March, April and May.
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