Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nassr endured a rough start to their 2026-27 AFC Champions League Elite campaign, falling 4-0 to Al Ain in their Matchday 1 fixture in Group B at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium.
Ange Postecoglou’s side arrived off the back of a solid run in the Saudi Pro League, sitting third in the table with five wins, one draw and one loss, but found no answers against a well-organized Al Ain outfit on their continental debut of the season.
The damage was done by Houssine Rahimi, who opened the scoring in the 25th minute after a defensive error and doubled his tally in the 63rd following a VAR review. Soufiane Rahimi made it 3-0 in the 72nd minute, before Giorgos Giakoumakis completed the rout in the 84th.
The result raises the question of how this defeat stacks up against the heaviest losses of Ronaldo’s career. The two worst by goal difference remain Manchester United’s 0-5 collapse against Liverpool in October 2021 and Real Madrid’s 5-0 defeat to Barcelona in November 2010, both five-goal margins that this loss does not match.
Instead, the 4-0 scoreline joins a longer list of defeats by four goals, alongside Manchester United’s losses to Brentford and Brighton in 2022, Real Madrid’s back-to-back beatings by Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in 2015, and Portugal’s 4-0 loss to Germany at the 2014 World Cup.
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Ronaldo’s rockiest night yet in Saudi Arabia
Within his time at Al Nassr specifically, this is now the heaviest defeat of Ronaldo’s tenure at the club. His previous worst results in Saudi colors had come by three-goal margins: a 3-0 loss to Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League in December 2023, and a 4-1 defeat to the same rival in the Saudi Super Cup in August 2024.
The loss to Al Ain surpasses both, marking the largest margin of defeat Ronaldo has suffered since arriving at Al Nassr in January 2023, and it comes at a particularly inconvenient moment, right as the club opens its bid for a deep run in the AFC Champions League Elite.
