Cristiano Ronaldo forced to play in front of creepy crowd of cutouts as Al-Nassr win Asian Champions League clash
CRISTIANO RONALDO’S Al-Nassr played in front of a bizarre set of cardboard cut-outs as they faced Persepolis behind closed doors in Iran on Tuesday evening.
Saudi Arabian sides have refused to play in Iran since 2016 when a group of Iranian militiamen called the Basij attacked the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
But relations between Saudi and Iran have improved in recent times.
This led Ronaldo and Co to head to the country for their AFC Champions League opener against Persepolis.
Al-Nassr claimed a 2-0 win thanks to second-half goals from Abdulrahman Ghareeb and Mohammed Qassem.
However, no fans were allowed inside the Azadi Stadium.
This was because of a punishment from the AFC after Persepolis posted an offensive tweet about an Indian side in 2020.
So, instead of supporters, the club made the rather strange decision to fill the ground with cardboard cut-outs of their fans.
And it made for a rather creepy scene as the likes of Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozovic, and Aymeric Laporte claimed a comfortable victory.
But it was a match to forget for Ronaldo as he made little impact on the match.
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That is quite the departure from his Saudi Pro League form – where he has scored seven goals in five games.
Al-Nassr sit sixth in their domestic league after four wins and two defeats from their opening six games.
Ronaldo has scored 21 goals in 26 games since arriving in Saudi.