Fans will witness the anticipated confrontation between Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema when Al Nassr visits Al Ittihad tonight. These former partners at Real Madrid all lead their team’s attack, promising to create an attractive competition.
Coach Luis Castro must not change his squad after the recent 3-1 win over Al Ittifaq. Accordingly, Anderson Talisca and Sadio Mane are still familiar partners with Ronaldo, who just scored his 51st victory in 2023.
Ronaldo played 23 of Al Nassr’s 27 official matches at the beginning of the season but appeared very fit. He still has 2 stages to conquer the title of top scorer in 2023, only 1 goal closer to Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe.
On Al Ittihad’s side, Benzema still plays as a striker with Romarinho, who scored an honorable goal in the recent 1-3 loss to Al Raed. This duo contributed a total of 13 goals in the Saudi Pro League since the beginning of the season. In defense, coach Marcelo Gallardo will be without midfielder Madallah Al Olayan due to suspension and his replacement is Hassan Kadesh.
Al Ittihad’s midfield has the appearance of big stars like N’Golo Kante and Fabinho, creating a heat shield with Marcelo Brozovic and Sesko Fofana on the away side.