Tag: Saudi Pro League

Ronaldo breaks all-time Saudi record for goals in single season

Al Nassr star Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals against Al Ittihad on Monday, breaking the Saudi Pro League record for goals in a season.

Cristiano Ronaldo may be nearing the end of his career, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t still setting new records.

The Al Nassr star scored two goals against Al Ittihad on Monday, his 34th and 35th of the season.

Ronaldo’s second goal, a towering header off a corner kick in the 69th minute, broke the all-time Saudi Pro League record for goals in a single season.

The 39-year-old reached the mark in just 31 league games, also tallying 11 league assists for Al Nassr in a standout campaign. Overall, Ronaldo has 50 goals in the 2023-24 season.

The record was previously held by Abderrazak Hamdallah, who scored 34 goals in the the 2018-19 season for Al Nassr as well.

Ronaldo set the record in Al Nassr’s final league game of the season, with the club guaranteed to finish second behind Al Hilal.

Al Nassr will have a chance to get some revenge on Friday when it faces Al Hilal in the King Cup final.

Watch Ronaldo’s record-setting goal

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Al Nassr vs. Al Hilal: How to watch Saudi Pro League, TV channel, live stream

The top two teams in Saudi Arabia meet in a high-profile clash

The title race may be over, but Al Nassr and Al Hilal meet on Friday in what still promises to be a must-see event.

Al Hilal secured the title last weekend with a win over Al Hazem, and now has three games remaining as it looks to wrap up an undefeated league season.

Al Nassr will likely be the biggest obstacle to that goal, as Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. enter Friday’s game in second place.

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Ronaldo has had an incredible campaign even after turning 39 in February. The Portugal star has 33 league goals and 48 in all competitions — his best tally since the 2015-16 season.

Both teams will be aiming to make a statement ahead of a rematch in the King’s Cup final on May 31.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.

Al Nassr vs. Al Hilal (Saudi Pro League)

  • When: Friday, May 17
  • Where: Al -Awwal Stadium (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
  • Time: 2 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: Fox Soccer Plus (Watch FREE on Fubo)

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Neymar: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised’ if the Saudi league is better than Ligue 1

“I can assure you the football in Saudi Arabia is the same. The ball is round, we have goalposts… There’s no secret.”

Did Neymar take a step down by moving from Paris Saint-Germain to the Saudi Pro League?

The Brazil star doesn’t seem to think so. Speaking at a press conference before a World Cup qualifier against Bolivia, Neymar — who joined Al Hilal last month in a €90 million deal — said that this summer’s Saudi spending spree may have tipped the scales against Ligue 1.

“For the names that went to Saudi Arabia, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Saudi league is better than [Ligue 1],” said Neymar, though his assertion was possibly deflated by his own chuckling.

“I can assure you the football in Saudi Arabia is the same. The ball is round, we have goalposts… There’s no secret. We have intense practice there, the thirst to win is still big. I want to win trophies with Al Hilal. It doesn’t change much.”

Only the Premier League spent more than the (often government-backed) clubs of the Saudi Pro League, with Transfermarkt reporting that the league’s total transfer spending in the summer window stands at €957 million.

Neymar’s argument doesn’t require much deep thinking. When he trains with Al Hilal, he’s doing so alongside Brazil teammate Malcom, World Cup star Yassine Bounou, Senegal center back Kalidou Koulibaly, Serbia duo Aleksandar Mitrović and Sergej Milinković-Savić, and Portugal defensive midfielder Rúben Neves. These players are all very good at soccer, and could play in any league.

The counter, of course, is that Saudi clubs added 40 players on permanent transfers, spread across 18 teams. A league of that size employs around 500 players, give or take, meaning that the nearly €1 billion in transfer spending only improved about 8% of the player pool. In other words, for every Neymar or Cristiano Ronaldo to make the jump, there are dozens of players who represent the average talent level for the Saudi Pro League.

None of that seems to be bothering Neymar much, as the forward compared the talk he’s heard since making the move to what people said when he moved from Barcelona to PSG.

“Everyone said the same when I went to France, and it was the place I was [kicked] the most in my life,” said the 31-year-old. “I am sure that it won’t be easy to win the Saudi championship. Other teams got stronger, have famous players. It will be very interesting and I am sure you will be watching.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo chose the pettiest time to endorse the Saudi League over MLS after Lionel Messi’s move

What an absolutely insecure comment.

In the primes of their career, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had one of the greatest rivalries in soccer history as members of Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively. To this day, both are primary subjects of a Men’s GOAT soccer debate, one that, by now, Messi has won handily with seven Ballon d’Or trophies to Ronaldo’s five and one World Cup trophy to Ronaldo’s zero.

But that hasn’t stopped Ronaldo from taking apparent potshots at Messi here and there, showing he’s probably a little bitter that Messi will have left behind a better legacy when all is said and done.

The latest example comes from Ronaldo’s strange comparative endorsement of the Saudi Pro League during a press conference. After a high-profile transfer from Manchester United, the superstar joined the league in January 2023. And at literally any time since January, Ronaldo could’ve endorsed the overall quality of his new league. At any time, he could’ve professed how much it apparently pushes him as an athlete.

Instead, he chose to talk up the Saudi League while bashing the MLS just days after Messi officially joined Inter Miami and began practicing with them. Hmm, curious timing!

Ronaldo can endorse his own decision to take $220 million to play wherever he wants. That is his prerogative.

But it is impossible to see his juxtaposition as anything but a passive-aggressive shot at Messi joining the MLS, given the timing. Even after definitively losing the all-time battle, the man clearly hasn’t quite let go of his rivalry with the fellow all-time Argentinian great.