Cristiano Ronaldo was once again jeered by opposition fans, who also chanted his arch-rival Lionel Messi’s name.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nassr were left frustrated on Friday, in a 1-1 draw vs Al Taawoun in their Saudi Pro League fixture, in Buraidah. It was former Manchester City centre-back who came to Al Nassr’s rescue, with a second-half equaliser. The result now sees Ronaldo’s side drop to fourth position in the league table and Al Taawoun remain in eighth spot.
The hosts took the lead at the stroke of half-time as Saad Fahad Al Nasser slotted the ball past the opposition goalkeeper to make it 1-0. After half-time, they could have made it 2-0 but Musa Barrow’s shot went straight to the goalkeeper. Searching for an equaliser, Al Nassr immediately increased the pressure, and finally found the goal in the 64th-minute as Angelo Gabriel found Laporte in the box, who converted his header to equalise.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s heartwarming response to ‘Lionel Messi’ chants
As usual, Ronaldo was once again jeered by opposition fans, who also chanted his arch-rival Lionel Messi’s name. In the first-half, the fans were heard chanting ‘Messi, Messi’, in an attempt to annoy Ronaldo. In the past, the Portugal international has always had an annoyed reaction to such chants.
Al Nassr’s title challenge is slowly waning away, and they are way behind league leaders Al Hilal, who have registered 40 points in 15 matches. Al Nassr have 29 in 15 fixtures, and three points ahead of fifth-placed Al Ahli.
Ronaldo’s rivalry with Messi has been at the forefront of football for more than a decade. The pair spent nine seasons in the prime of their careers playing against each other regularly, while representing rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. According to IFFHS, they are the only two footballers to score over 800 goals each in their respective careers for both club and country. The rivalry has been compared to the ones in other sports, like Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal in tennis, Alain Prost-Ayrton Senna in Formula One and Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier in boxing.
