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Cristiano Ronaldo received a straight red card in the 86th minute following an argument with the referee about being ruled offside in Al-Nassr's clash against Al-Hilal in the semi-final of the Saudi Super Cup on April 9.
During the ruckus before the booking, Ronaldo's teammate for Portugal, Ruben Neves was seen telling the referee that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner stepped on Al-Hilal's Ali Al-Bulayhi.
Fans were infuriated by Neves' actions and flooded social media with posts criticizing him and comparing Ronaldo's national teammates with Lionel Messi's.
Here is a collection of their posts on X:
One fan wrote:
"It's the reason...clear difference between Argentina and Portugal nt"
Another said:
"The coach of Bourtiques should exclude him from the team"
One user wrote:
"Portuguese players don’t like anymore since he left after the loss to Morocco instead of travelling back to Portugal with the squad"
"There seems to be a large separation between Ronaldo and the rest of the Portugal team. It's embarrassing how they treat Cristiano and it will be the reason they will not win anymore trophies," chimed in another.
One post read:
"If I had Cristiano in my team... I will die for him but these Portugal mffs"
"Any player who joins this little blue team has become a lying animal," read another.
The match ended in an unsatisfying 2-1 loss for Luis Castro's squad with Sadio Mané scoring the sole goal for the club.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr is second in the Saudi Pro League
Al-Nassr is standing second in the Saudi Pro League with 65 points in the 27 matches. In their last five fixtures, they have one draw and four wins to their name. Arch-rivals Al-Hilal, who have claimed the league title 18 times, are on top of the league table with 77 points.
Cristiano Ronaldo's side will face Al-Fayha next in the Saudi Pro League on April 19, 2024. He was not in the club's starting XI in their last fixture against Damac.
Al-Nassr have another semi-final coming up against Al-Khaleej in the King Cup of Champions on May 1, 2024. The other semi-final fixture is between Al-Hilal and reigning Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad on April 30, 2024.
