Cristiano Ronaldo returns to the Champions League? The pic that drove fans crazy

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best players of his generation. For years he competed for the throne of world soccer with Lionel Messi, and between them they monopolized for more than a decade all the individual awards such as the Ballon d'Or. In fact, they are the players who have received France Football magazine's award the most times (Leo 8 and CR7, 5).

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However, there is one aspect in which the Portuguese striker has the advantage over the Argentine player: his success in the UEFA Champions League. He won the title five times with two different teams. The first one was in the 2007/08 season with Manchester United, and then he won it another four times with Real Madrid, in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018. But that's not all, as he holds the record for goals in that tournament, with 141 in 187 games between 2003 and 2022, giving an impressive average of 0.75.

Cristiano's departure from Manchester United in December 2022 and his arrival at Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia put an end to that glorious era, as only European teams compete in that tournament. But fans around the world were surprised (and excited) on Tuesday when the Portuguese striker shared an image on his official X account showing him training with a ball, accompanied by the message, "Getting ready for the Champions League match!" and a fist emoji.

This may have confused some users, who read that message and thought that Ronaldo was preparing his return to European soccer to once again play in the world's most important club tournament. But the reality will be disappointing for them: what CR7 was referring to is the Asian Champions League, the equivalent tournament to the European one but between teams from that continent.

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When will he play?

Al-Nassr easily got through the group stage of the Asian Champions League and are now in the knock-out stages. There, for the round of 16, their rivals are Al-Feiha. In the first leg, Cristiano Ronaldo's team got a key 1-0 victory and now they will have the chance to advance to the next stage, but for that they will have to get at least a draw this Wednesday in the second leg. In addition to having won the first leg, Al-Nassr are confident in their qualities and know that they are superior to their rivals, as they have 27 points more in the Pro League standings.