Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr crashed out of the Asian Champions League in the quarterfinals after the Saudi Pro League side lost 3-1 on penalties to Al-Ain in a pulsating game on Monday, despite winning the clash 4-3 before shootouts to reduce their deficit from the first leg and level the overall score 4-4 on aggregate.
Al-Nassr's foreign imports Miroslav Brozovic, Alex Telles and Otavio all failed to score from the spot as the side from the United Arab Emirates advanced to the semi-finals, where they will face either Al-Hilal or Al-Ittihad, both from Saudi Arabia, next month.
Al-Nassr's Ronaldo looks dejected after his side exited the Asian Champions League in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 11, 2024. /CFP
Al-Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa made amends for a disappointing display when he saved Brozovic's opening penalty and, with Soufiane Rahimi, Kaku and Sultan Al Shamsi all converting, Otavio's miss meant Al-Nassr were eliminated.
The shootout brought a dramatic end to a thrilling clash at Al-Awwal Park that featured seven goals and a red card, with Al-Ain building on their first leg lead during the opening 45 minutes.
Rahimi, scorer of Al-Ain's first-leg winner, put the visitors in control with goals in the 28th and 45th minutes but Abdulrahman Ghareeb's strike five minutes into injury time kept Al-Nassr's hopes alive.
Otavio's low drive was redirected into his own goal by Eisa six minutes after the restart and Alex Telles levelled the aggregate scores 18 minutes from time with a low free kick that flew through a crowd of players to beat Eisa.
Al-Nassr's Ayman Yahya was sent off for a vicious two-footed lunge on Bandar Al-Ahbabi eight minutes into extra time and, a minute later, Al-Shamsi thought he had scored the winner when he capitalised on Raghid Najjar's handling error to poke home.
But Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot with two minutes remaining, after the Portuguese striker was taken down in the area by Saeed Jumaa, to take the game to a shootout.
Ronaldo was the only one of Al-Nassr's four penalty takers to successfully convert as Al-Ain advanced to the last four for the first time since 2016.
On Tuesday, South Korean sides Jeonbuk Motors will meet Ulsan Hyundai after sharing a 1-1 draw last week. Later on Wednesday, Harry Kewell's Yokohama F Marinos ide are looking to defend a 2-1 lead at home when they face Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan.
(With input from Reuters)