Cristiano Ronaldo watches closely as Al Nassr want to recover Mohamed Simakan for Al Diriyah clash

Al Nassr are preparing for Friday’s Saudi Pro League match against Al Diriyah with the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to club action and one defensive question mark still to be resolved. The reigning champions will visit Al-Awwal Park for Matchday 8, and coach Ange Postecoglou may have to wait until the last moment to define his lineup.

According to Al Nassr insider Abdulaziz Al-Asimi, the club’s medical staff are working to get French defender Mohamed Simakan ready for the match. His availability will reportedly be determined during training on the day of the game, which means Postecoglou will not know until Friday whether he can count on him.

Al Nassr’s training sessions are now at full strength after the players who were away on international duty returned to the squad. Postecoglou, who had spent two weeks preparing without his national team players, can now work with the complete group ahead of Friday’s match.

The coach also used his pre-match news conference on Wednesday, October 7, to give a positive update on Ronaldo, who returns to his club after a turbulent week with Portugal, saying that the forward is fully fit and ready to play.

Al Nassr arrive at the match after a heavy 4-0 defeat to Al Ain in the AFC Champions League Elite on September 15, and they will look to return to winning ways in the league, where they sit third in the table with 16 points, two behind leaders Al Hilal and one behind second-placed Al Ittihad.

Cristiano Ronaldo chases the Saudi Pro League Golden Boot

Ronaldo returns to the league with some ground to make up in the scoring charts. The 41-year-old has scored three goals in the Saudi Pro League this season, against Al Riyadh, Al Taawoun, and Abha, a tally that leaves him tied for ninth place with 14 other players.

He is seven goals behind the leader, Al Ahli’s Ivan Toney, who has 10 in seven games, and also trails Neom’s Alexandre Lacazette, who has five, as well as six players who have four each, among them Al Ittihad’s George Ilenikhena, Steven Bergwijn, and Youssef En-Nesyri.

With his last goal, against Abha on September 9, he reached 979 for his career, which leaves him 21 short of the 1,000-goal milestone, and with Al Nassr’s busy schedule ahead he will have plenty of opportunities to close the distance on Toney and the rest of the leaders.