Gamba Osaka defeats Al-Nassr and Ronaldo to win the AFC Champions League title

Japan's Gamba Osaka snatched the AFC Champions League 2 title from the heart of Riyadh, after Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr and its Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo were knocked out by a goal without reply at the Al-Awwal Park stadium, depriving Al-Alami of the first continental crown in the Ronaldo era and postponing its continental dream once again.

The only goal of the match was scored by Turkish Deniz Ümit at the 30th minute, giving the Japanese team its continental title, while Al-Nasr had one last chance to save its season by clinching the Saudi league title, provided that it beat Damak in the final round.

A painful blow to victory

Al-Nasr entered the match burdened with the disappointment of a dramatic draw against Al-Hilal in the league, when the latter snatched a killer goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time, to postpone the title and increase the pressure on Giorgi Jesus' men.

Despite Ronaldo's early attempts, including a free-kick (23) and then a pass to Sadio Mané who shot into the outside of the net (24), Gamba exploited a fatal defensive gap.

Tunisian Issam Jebali passed a perfect through ball to Oumit, who confidently placed it to the left of goalkeeper Pinto (30), and Al-Nasr pressed hard before the end of the first half, and Ronaldo almost equalized with a header that passed by the post (45+1).

Goalless dominance in the second half

Al-Nasr imposed absolute control after the break, but the final touch was absent despite the attacking substitutions made by Jesus, with the entry of Angelo, Salem Al-Najdi, and Kingsley Coman, and the most dangerous attempts came through: Al-Najdi with a shot that was saved by the Japanese defense (67), and Ronaldo failed to tame a dangerous ball inside the area before Mané shot a ball that was deflected away by goalkeeper Araki (72), and Felix fired a shell that bounced off the post (77).

G-Sos pushed Abdullah Al-Hamdan, who created a golden opportunity for Felix with a superb heel, but the Japanese goalkeeper was brilliant in keeping it out (83).

In the final moments, Ronaldo and Al-Hamdan tried from outside the area to no avail, while Gamba almost snatched the second from a dangerous rebound (90+3).

The match ended with great frustration in the stands of Al Awwal Park, after Al-Nasr players realized that the continental title is far away, and that all hopes are now pinned on the last round of the league.

Al-Hilal postpones Al-Nasr's crowning of the Saudi League title once again

Al-Hilal postponed the crowning of its traditional rival Al-Nasr in the Saudi Football League, after beating its guest NEOM 2-0, on Saturday, at the "Kingdom Arena" stadium, in the 33rd round of the competition.

With this result, Al-Hilal raised its score to 81 points in second place in the standings, two points behind Al-Nasr, who is in the lead, while NEOM's balance was frozen at 44 points in eighth place.

Al-Hilal needs to win its last match against Al-Fayha, with Al-Nasr stumbling against Damak, next Thursday, in order to snatch the Saudi league title, while Al-Alami will get the title if it wins any result.

The match witnessed the absence of Al-Hilal's attacking duo, French star of Algerian origin Karim Benzema and captain Salem Al-Dosari, as the former suffers from a connective muscle injury, while the latter suffers from knee pain.

The first half ended with "Al-Zaeem" advancing with a goal without reply, as Portuguese midfielder Ruben Neves opened the scoring in the tenth minute from a penalty kick, which was obtained by French full-back Theo Hernandez, after committing a foul against him by Mohamed Al-Breik.

In the second half, Al-Hilal doubled its lead by scoring the second goal in the 58th minute through Sultan Mandesh, after he turned a cross from the Brazilian Malcolm, into the net with a left-footed shot from inside the box.