{"id":890306,"date":"2026-09-10T09:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/890306\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T09:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T09:14:20","slug":"ronaldos-al-nassr-begins-asian-champions-league-bid-as-saudi-clubs-chase-3rd-straight-title-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/890306\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronaldo\u2019s Al-Nassr begins Asian Champions League bid as Saudi clubs chase 3rd straight title \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 What could be Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s last chance to win a first Asian Champions League title for his Saudi club will get underway next week.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo\u2019s Al-Nassr is one of five Saudi Pro League teams in the tournament. Combined, they\u2019ve spent more than $2 billion on foreign players since 2023, with Al-Ahli lifting the continental trophy in each of the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

\n Al-Ahli captain and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is hoping to make it three in a row in the 32-team tournament.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"FILE
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFILE – Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo waves following the World Cup Group K soccer match between Colombia and Portugal in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell, file)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the biggest club in Saudi Arabia and Asia and we will do everything to win,\u201d Mendy, who signed from English Premier League club Chelsea in 2023, told The Associated Press. \u201cLast year, we won the Champions League and we will have to use all the things we did then to be successful this time, too. We are building year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n

One competition, two zones<\/p>\n

The tournament is divided into two geographic zones until the playoffs, with the top eight teams from each progressing to the Round of 16.<\/p>\n

Al-Ahli starts its defense against Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan in the in the western zone. Saudi league champion Al-Nassr\u2019s roster contains 41-year-old Ronaldo and his Portugal teammate Joao Felix, last year\u2019s domestic league player of the season. Al-Nassr was a finalist in the second-tier continental championship last season.<\/p>\n

Felix, who joined the Riyadh club in 2025 for a fee of around $60 million, is determined to win a major title under new coach Ange Postecoglou.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a really good squad, a deep squad, our goal is to win every competition we can,\u201d Felix told AP. \u201cWe want to win the league, the cup and the Champions League \u2013 everything. We don\u2019t play to dream \u2014 we play to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riyadh rival Al-Hilal has won a record four Asian titles. After spending more than $200 million in the summer on English Premier League stars and three internationals \u2014 Ollie Watkins of England, Brazil\u2019s Gabriel Martinelli and Crysencio Summerville of the Netherlands \u2014 Hilal will be dealing with high expectations.<\/p>\n

Al-Ittihad, winner in 2004 and 2005, is aiming for a third continental crown. Al-Qadsiah, under former Liverpool and Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers, is making a first appearance in the competition.<\/p>\n

The Saudi teams have avoided Iran\u2019s two representatives \u2014 Esteghlal of Tehran and Tractor \u2014 in the group stage.<\/p>\n

With tension high due to war in the region, the Iranian clubs are set to host home games in neutral countries. Esteghlal will host Al-Sadd of Qatar in the Iraqi city of Basra in the opening round. Tractor will travel to the United Arab Emirates to face Shabab Al-Ahli in Dubai.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

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Eastern zone contenders<\/p>\n

Clubs from Japan have lost the last two finals to Al-Ahli. And Japan, like Saudi Arabia, has five representatives in the tournament. Of them, only Gamba Osaka and Kashima Antlers have lifted the trophy before, in 2008 and 2018 respectively.<\/p>\n

South Korea is the most successful nation in terms of combined Asian titles. South Korean hopes will rest with three-time champion Pohang Steelers and two-time winner Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors this season. Shanghai Port and Beijing Guoan are China\u2019s representatives in the tournament. Thailand has three teams for the first time. Australia\u2019s hopes rest on Newcastle Jets, making just a second appearance in the group stage.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

\n See AP\u2019s full soccer coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 What could be Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s last chance to win a first Asian Champions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":890307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-890306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=890306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/890307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=890306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=890306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=890306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}