23 January 2023 , 10:11
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Cristiano Ronaldo finally made his debut for Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Nassr, but did so while sporting a rather painful looking bruise under his eye after being punched during last week's friendly aganist Paris Saint-Germain.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner at long last donned the blue and yellow strip of his new side to feature in their Saudi Pro League clash against Etiffaq, but the brutal-looking bruise under his left eye was all many could talk about before kick-off.
The injury stemmed from a clash with PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who went to punch the ball during their clash last Thursday but instead caught his former Real Madrid colleague. Though PSG ran out 5-4 winners, Ronaldo did manage to bag two in the contest.
One of his goals came from the penalty spot after the punch in question was deemed a foul by the referee. Ronaldo managed to dust himself off, get up and lash home the penalty, but he still bears the physical impacts of Navas' foul.
Footage of PSG forward Kylian Mbappe laughing and joking with Ronaldo as the Frenchman had a look at the bruise soon did the rounds, with the Portugal skipper clearly in good spirits as he laughed off the injury.
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From the 37-year-old's perspective, the friendly marked a mini-reunion with some old faces Ronaldo isn't likely to have seen in a while considering he was at Manchester United from August 2021 before his move to the Middle East this month.
Cristiano Ronaldo suffered a black eye after this clash with Keylor Navas (Hussein Malla/AP/REX/Shutterstock)HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Ronaldo be a success at Al-Nassr? Comment below
He was spotted chatting with another one of his old Los Blancos colleagues in Sergio Ramos in the tunnel ahead of kick-off. It was actually an error from Ramos that allowed Ronaldo to bag his second in the friendly.
Unfortunately, the 37-year-old failed to repeat his goal-scoring heroics on his competitive debut for the club, though Al -Nassr did still run out 1-0 winners thanks to a goal from Anderson Talisca. Worringly, Ronaldo failed to even register a shot on target all game.
Despite having only joined this month, Ronaldo wore the captain's armband.
Ronaldo's debut was an underwhelming one (AFP via Getty Images)There is every chance the former United forward is lifting the Saudi Pro League come the end of the season, with this most recent win keeping Al-Nassr one point clear at the top of the table having played one game less than rivals Al-Hilal.
Ronaldo may feel an extra bit of pressure to achieve big things out in Saudi Arabia considering Al-Nassr were forced to cut ties with former player Vincent Aboubakar to register the five-time Ballon d'Or winner as per Pro League rules that state each club should have no more than eight foreign players registered.