Cristiano Ronaldo’s pursuit of a first major honour with Al-Nassr suffered another painful blow on Saturday when the Saudi side lost the AFC Champions League Two final 1-0 to Japan’s Gamba Osaka, beaten by a single goal from Deniz Hummet in the 30th minute.
It was a result that defied the balance of play entirely: Al-Nassr dominated possession, created chance after chance and still could not find a way past goalkeeper Rui Araki, who stood firm throughout to hand his side the trophy.
Ronaldo himself had five shots and failed to hit the target with any of them. Gamba Osaka, by contrast, managed just four shots across the entire match, with only one of them on target. That one was enough.
It was a bitterly appropriate summary of Al-Nassr’s evening and, in some ways, of Ronaldo’s entire Saudi chapter so far. The 41-year-old has now lost four finals since joining the club in 2022: the 2023-24 King’s Cup Final against Al-Hilal on penalties, the 2024 Saudi Super Cup Final against Al-Hilal, the 2025 Saudi Super Cup Final against Al-Ahli on penalties, and now this. His only silverware in Saudi football remains the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup, a competition that does not carry official status.
Al-Nassr had made history simply by reaching the final, becoming the first Saudi club to contest the AFC Champions League Two showpiece. The competition is broadly equivalent to UEFA’s Europa League in terms of continental standing. Reaching the final was an achievement in itself. Losing it to a Japanese side on home soil made it all the more difficult to take.
The defeat was compounded by events elsewhere. Shortly before kick-off, Saudi Pro League title rivals Al-Hilal beat Neom 2-0, eliminating any chance of the title being settled on Saturday. Al-Nassr had needed Al-Hilal to slip up. Instead, the gap between the two sides going into the final round stands at just two points, with Al-Nassr ahead. They face relegation-threatened Damac in their last match, but a draw combined with an Al-Hilal win over Al-Fayha would hand the title to Al-Hilal on head-to-head record, having won their head-to-head meetings 3-1 this season with one draw.
The Saudi Pro League title therefore remains Al-Nassr’s last realistic chance of ending the season with a major trophy and giving Ronaldo his first genuine honour in the Kingdom. Coach Jorge Jesus, meanwhile, is reported to be leaving the club at the end of the season to return to Fenerbahce, adding further uncertainty to what has been a turbulent week for the club.
