Ange Postecoglou showed Cristiano Ronaldo who's boss after substituting the Al-Nassr captain at half-time during Tuesday's match against Al-Ettifaq. Ronaldo, 41, made his first start under his new manager, but was withdrawn as his side trailed 2-0 with 10 men.
Al-Nassr had won their two previous games without Ronaldo in the starting line-up, but found themselves behind early at Al-Ettifaq. Goalkeeper Bento was sent off in the 12th minute for a challenge on former Fulham striker Moussa Dembele. The hosts capitalised with goals from Ondrej Duda and Alvaro Medran, both coming via mistakes from 18-year-old goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi.
When the half-time whistle blew, Ronaldo cut a frustrated figure as he headed for the away dressing room. The angry Portuguese - who earns a jaw-dropping £488,000 per day - was seen shrugging his shoulders at someone down the tunnel and took off his armband. To the surprise of fans, Ronaldo did not reemerge for the second half.
Postecoglou's bold call pays off
Postecoglou had made the bold decision to sub him off - and it proved to be a masterstroke. Sadio Mane started Al-Nassr's comeback with a goal in the 74th minute before Abdulelah Al-Amri levelled the scores soon after. Mane struck again with seconds of normal time remaining to snatch all three points.
Despite the remarkable turnaround, there was plenty of talk about Ronaldo's behaviour and Postecoglou's decision. But the ex-Celtic, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest boss was not having it.
"I think there's a bigger story today, and that is that 10 men of Al-Nassr were unbelievable," Postecoglou told journalists. "That's all you should write about today, everything else doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what team because if you see 10 men in those conditions for so long, 2-0 down to come back, that's the only story today."
What's next for Ronaldo and Al-Nassr
Postecoglou's relationship with Ronaldo will now be under scrutiny ahead of Friday's game at home to Al-Taawoun. Following that is a clash with Al-Ittihad, who sit second in the table behind Al-Nassr, the only team to have won three games so far.
"When I made the substitutions, including taking Ronaldo off, I believed the players coming on could make an impact," Postecoglou explained. "I came here to help the players, so as I said, I'm proud of them because every substitute made a positive contribution. I'm here to help the team with what I see, and everyone knows that Ronaldo hasn't played in a long time. He performed exceptionally well in the first half, and we opted for a different approach."
