05 March 2024 , 08:21
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Cristiano Ronaldo could not hide his frustration after being taunted with more chants about rival Lionel Messi as Al-Nassr were beaten by Al Ain on Monday.
The match was Ronaldo's first after serving a one-match ban for making a lewd gesture in response to chants of "Messi" during an Al-Nassr game last month, with the forward missing his side's 4-4 draw with Al-Hazem as a result.
He was also ordered to pay a fine of 30,000 Saudi Riyals (£6,300) by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, which found him to have caused 'public excitement by gesture'. And in his first game back after the ban, Ronaldo was once again taunted with chants of "Messi".
In a clip from half-time, Ronaldo looked visibly annoyed by the chants and shook his head as he made his way towards the tunnel. To make matters worse, Al-Nassr went on to lose 1-0 thanks to a goal from Soufiane Rahimi, while Aymeric Laporte was sent off.
The result leaves Al-Nassr needing to come from behind in the second leg in order to book their place in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League. It comes after Ronaldo was told to "shut up" by former Chelsea star Frank Leboeuf, who took aim at the 39-year-old over his controversial comments about Ligue 1 earlier this year.
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"To be honest I think the Saudi League is not worse than French league, in my opinion," Ronaldo claimed. "In [the] French league I think you have two, three teams with a good level. In Saudi now I think it's more competitive.
"I think right now we are better than [the] French league, we still improve." And Leboeuf believes Ronaldo only made those comments because Messi previously played in Ligue 1 when he was at Paris Saint-Germain.
Ronaldo's Al-Nassr were beaten 1-0 by Al Ain in his first game back from suspension (Waleed Zein/Anadolu via Getty Images)"It annoys me when I hearCristiano Ronaldosaying that theSaudi Pro Leagueis better than Ligue 1. Why do you think he chose to make that comment about Ligue 1 rather than the Portuguese League? It’s because Lionel Messi played in Ligue 1," Leboeuf toldBetVictor.
"I have lots of respect for him as a player but come on, just shut up! It is unfair to Ligue 1. For me, Portugal are actually one of the contenders for this summer’s European Championships. I actually think they can win the Euros, but only if Cristiano Ronaldo doesn’t play.
"You cannot take away anything that Ronaldo has done for football just because he has gone to retire in the Saudi League. I want to thank him for taking the sport to another level, but there is an end for everyone. He has every right to play in Saudi Arabia, although I'm not sure he needed even more money!"
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