Benfica 4-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo suffers pre-season defeat shown up by Di Maria
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Portugal on Thursday evening as Al-Nassr travelled to Europe for a pre-season friendly against Benfica.
The Portuguese superstar was involved from the off in Faro as Angel di Maria marked his return to Benfica with a first appearance back in Portugal.
Al-Nassr would have been hoping for an upturn in fortunes after slumping to a 5-0 defeat against Celta Vigo last time out, but soon found themselves behind.
Argentina World Cup winner Di Maria opened the scoring in the 22nd minute as Benfica sought to take early control against their Saudi opposition.
The 35-year-old’s initial strike was soon followed up by a quick-fire brace from Ronaldo’s national team colleague Goncalo Ramos as the striker found the back of the net twice in eight minutes.
Ramos capitalised on some lacklustre defence to double Benfica’s lead in the 30th minute before adding a second less than 10 minutes later as the European outfit showed their superiority over their Middle Easter opponents.
Benfica were in cruise control as half-time approached and Di Maria highlighted his side’s comfortability in the pre-season encounter as he playfully toyed with Ronaldo.
The Argentinian winger brought down a long-ball and chipped the ball over Ronaldo’s head as the Portuguese tried to win back possession.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner evidently wasn’t happy with this and quickly hauled Di Maria to the ground in a show of frustration.
Ronaldo shares a frosty relationship with Benfica given his roots at the club’s Portugal rivals Sporting Lisbon and recently refused to comment on Di Maria’s move to Roger Schmidt’s side.
Speaking after Al-Nassr’s recent victory over Farense he said: ‘Di Maria to Benfica? I will not comment about it. If you asked me a question about Sporting, I would answer you, but on that I will not comment it.’
Al-Nassr pulled a goal back on the verge of half-time as Khalid Al-Ghannam scored against the run of play.
However, Benfica soon re-established their authority as Andreas Schjelderup added a fourth in the 68th minute following a swathe of half-time changes from the hosts.
Ronaldo was later subbed off in the 84th minute and received a warm welcome from Portuguese supporters inside the ground.
