Despite Ronaldo’s efforts, Al Nassr fails to catch up with Al Hilal. They have officially lost hope of winning the championship after witnessing their opponent’s victory last night (May 11).

Al Hilal faced Al Hazm in round 31 of the Saudi Arabia National Championship. The hosts took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute thanks to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s penalty. Al Hazm responded with a goal from Faiz Salemani in the 34th minute.

However, Ahmed Al Juwaid’s own goal gave Al Hilal a 2-1 lead in the 39th minute. By the end of the first half, Al Hilal extended their lead to 3-1 with Mitrovic’s second goal, seemingly shattering Al Hazm’s hopes of earning points and also cutting off Al Nassr’s championship aspirations.

In the 6th minute of ιnjᴜry time in the first half, Neymar’s team scored the fourth goal. Midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic made Al Hazm’s goal shake with a precise kιϲk in the penalty area.

The score of 4-1 remained until the end of the match as Al Hilal did not score any more goals in the second half. The 3-goal difference is enough for them to secure 3 points, officially winning the 24th season of Saudi Arabia with 12 points more than Al Nassr, while the tournament only has 3 rounds left.

The significant gap shows that Ronaldo’s team is still far behind Al Hilal in terms of level. Al Hilal is the only club in Saudi Arabia that has not lost a match since the beginning of the season. They also lead in the number of goals scored and the fewest goals conceded. Meanwhile, Al Nassr has lost 4 matches since the beginning of the season. They also lost to Al Hilal in direct confrontations.

The plan to bring Ronaldo back to break Al Hilal’s dominance seems to be falling apart with Al Nassr. They continue to experience a season that did not live up to expectations. Al Nassr lost momentum in the championship race and was eliminated early in the Asia Cup. Now, they only have the Saudi King Cup final to avoid a bleak season.