Ronaldo misses out on another trophy as Al Nassr loses against Al Ittihad in King’s Cup round of 16

Cristiano Ronaldo’s wait for a trophy in Saudi Arabia continued as Al Nassr fell to a 1-2 loss against Al Ittihad in the King’s Cup round of 16 tie on Tuesday.

This marked the 13th title that the Portuguese star has missed out on since joining the Saudi Pro League side in 2023.

Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema opened the scoring for the visitor in the 15th minute after a fast break. Moussa Diaby was at the heart of the counter and found Benzema in space inside the box, before the striker slotted the ball into the bottom left corner to take the lead.

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Al Nassr levelled things up at the half-hour mark through Angelo Gabriel, who pounced on a loose ball inside the opposition’s box after they failed to properly clear away a cross from Ronaldo. The 20-year-old Brazilian took a touch and smashed it into the roof of the net, leaving goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic no chance of making a save.

However, Ittihad restored its lead on the stroke of half-time after Houssem Aouar ran onto a perfectly-weighted through ball from Mario Mitaj. The former Roma, Olympique Lyonnais midfielder took his time and perfectly curled the ball past the advancing Bento into the bottom right corner.

Al Nassr dominated proceedings in the second half but could not find a way past the Ittihad defence.

Published on Oct 29, 2025

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