"I am going to speak at the end of the season because I've seen many, many bad things." That's Cristiano Ronaldo — not ranting to a friend, but on the record after Al Nassr's 2-0 win over Al Ahli on Wednesday. Whatever he's holding back, it sounds like it's been building for a while.
The win keeps Al Nassr eight points clear of Al Hilal, with four games left and Al Hilal holding a game in hand. The title picture is clearer than it's been all season, which might be exactly why Ronaldo feels comfortable airing grievances now rather than later.
A season that went well beyond the pitch
Ronaldo's frustrations aren't just about rival clubs sniping at referees — though there's plenty of that too. Al Ahli players publicly complained after a previous defeat to Al Nassr that the team was getting favorable officiating. Ronaldo's response: the criticism damages the league's image, and the players doing it should know better.
"This is not good for the league. Everyone complains. This is football, this is not a war," he said. He's right that constant public grievance-airing looks bad for a league trying to position itself as a serious competitor to Europe's top divisions. But Ronaldo is also a man who boycotted two league games this season in protest at Al Hilal signing Karim Benzema from Al Ittihad. He knows exactly how to use visibility as a pressure tool.
"It's been a difficult season, not just on the pitch but off it," he admitted. He says he'll explain the boycott at season's end too. Given the context — his former Real Madrid teammate arriving at a direct title rival — the frustration was understandable, even if the method was unorthodox.
970 goals and still counting
He opened the scoring on Wednesday, his 970th career goal. That number is worth sitting with. He's 41. He's in a league his critics wrote off as a retirement home. And he's still chasing a first Saudi Pro League title after joining in December 2022 — Al Nassr's first since 2019 would also be his.
Al Nassr's position at the top makes them the obvious title favorites, and that eight-point cushion gives them genuine room to stumble. For anyone tracking league winner markets, the math currently does most of the talking.
After the game, Al Ahli's Merih Demiral — his old Juventus teammate — reminded Ronaldo that Al Ahli had won two Asian Champions League titles this year. Ronaldo's reply was immediate: "Five Champions [League titles], I have! I have five!"
Some things never change.
