Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to welcome chants for Lionel Messi as he prepared to take to the pitch for Al-Nassr against Al-Ittihad.
Cristiano Ronaldo welcomed the idea of playing the role of pantomime villain as he prepared for his biggest game yet in an Al-Nassr shirt. In a crucial top of the table clash between the Saudi Pro League’s two big hitters this season, Al-Ittihad fans did their best to unnerve the 38-year-old with cheeky chants for Lionel Messi, but Ronaldo remained ice cool.
Ronaldo has been no stranger to criticism throughout his career and certainly has his fans and his enemies, but kept his cool to give us a rather humorous – and incredibly meme-worthy – moment.
As well as chanting for Messi in a bid to hopefully put off Ronaldo, Al-Ittihad fans went even further, begging the club to sign the Argentine World Cup winner. It’s not the first time they’ve done it, either; Al-Ittihad fans tried to put off the five-time Ballon d’Or winner with Messi chants back in January, when Ronaldo first signed for the club.
Ronaldo and Al-Nassr couldn’t manage a win, losing 1-0 away from home thanks to an 80th minute goal from Romarinho.
Ronaldo then stormed off the pitch angrily as he made his way straight for the player’s tunnel at the full-time whistle. Several of his teammates appeared to make a half-hearted attempt to calm him down, but Ronaldo had no interest in this and instead booted several water bottles at the side of the pitch.
The Portuguese superstar then took to social media after the match to post a message, although this did not make reference to his behaviour at the end of the match and instead focused on the need for the side to stay positive after the loss.
“Disappointed with the result, but we stay focused on our season and the games ahead,” Ronaldo wrote on his Twitter account, alongside a flexing arm emoji.
“Thank you Al Nassr fans for your support, we know we can count on you!” He added, alongside yellow and blue hearts.
Ronaldo will need to continue his fine scoring form in order to avenge the loss against their rivals and help Al-Nassr back to the top of the table in the coming weeks.
