Cristiano Ronaldo of Al Nassr established the record for the most goals scored in a single campaign on Monday, capping his first complete Saudi Pro League season in style.
The 39-year-old’s league total for this season is 35 goals after scoring a brace in his team’s 4-2 victory over Al Ittihad on the last matchday.
“I don’t follow the records, the records follow me,” Ronaldo said on Instagram. “I’m very happy,” he continued in an interview with SSC. firstly because the squad fared well in the league finale and won. I have to admit that breaking a league goal record makes me quite thrilled because I didn’t anticipate it.
“For me it’s important.”The team is always the most important thing. We are doing well. We had a strong league finale, and we now need to win the Kings Cup.
Abderrazak Hamdallah, a former attacker for Al Nassr and Moroccan international, held the previous record with 34 goals in 2018–19.
Ronaldo, who has played for Juventus, Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Sporting, joined Al Nassr in January 2023.
Ronaldo, who had previously had two goals disallowed for offside, chested down a long cross from Mohammed Al-Fatil and opened the score with a low effort from the left side of the box in the last seconds of the first half.
With twenty-one minutes left, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner headed home a corner from Marcelo Brozovic with great fanfare. Five minutes later, he was replaced off the field to a standing ovation from the home crowd.
Ronaldo, who finished the season with four hat tricks and one red card, had an action-packed campaign. Additionally, he was punished for making an offensive gesture against Al Shabab supporters in February who were shouting the name of Lionel Messi, Ronaldo’s longtime nemesis in soccer.
Even while Ronaldo received individual recognition this season, a talented team that included Brozovic and Sadio Mane was left disappointed. Al Nassr failed to win a title in the Saudi Cup or Asian Champions League, and they came in second place in the league table behind Al Hilal.
Even without Neymar, who joined the team in August from Paris Saint-Germain but had an ACL injury that ended the season in October, Al Hilal was too powerful.
In the closing seconds, Aleksandar Mitrovic scored the game’s winning goal to seal a 2-1 victory over Al Wehda. The Serbian striker, who joined from Fulham in London last summer, scored 27 goals in the league, second only to Ronaldo.
Al Hilal set a new world record for a top-tier team with their 34-game winning run across all competitions en route to capturing the championship.
Coach Jorge Jesus remarked, “This season has been truly exceptional for the team, arguably our best ever.” “The credit goes to the immense talent within the squad and the incredible sense of unity that transcends both on and off-field interactions.”
