The three Saudi giants Al-Nassr FC, Riyadh Crescent and Jeddah United all qualified as the first in the group. On November 28, in the penultimate round of the Asian Championships group match, Ronaldo suffered neck injury. He missed the last round of the Al-Nassr FC victory, and was able to prepare in advance for the strong dialogue between Saudi Arabia and the Jeddah United led by Benzema.
The victory in Al-Nassr FC has locked the first place in Group E of the Asian Championship one round in advance, so it has become a routine to challenge Dushanbe Independence, the team at the bottom of the group, in the last round away. On December 2, in the Derby of Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Al-Nassr FC was defeated by Riyadh Xinyue 0-3. Eight foreign aid players started at the same time, but it did not help. Ronaldo, who came on the court with injuries, did not play his due standard. In this Asian Championship game, Al-Nassr FC coach Fidel Castro wanted to give eight foreign aid players a good rest, and none of them entered the starting lineup. Cristiano Ronaldo, Brozovic, and Torres were not on the roster, while Mane and Laporte remained on the bench. Talisca, Fofana, and Otavio came on as substitutes in the 74th, 85th, and 90th minutes, respectively.
Al-Nassr FC has not scored in the past two games. It drew 0-0 with Persepolis in the Asian Championships and lost 3-3 to Riyadh Crescent in Saudi Arabia. In this AFC Champions League match, Dushanbe Independients took the lead in the 32nd minute, while Saudi Arabian international Kalib equalized the score in the 50th minute. The two sides shook hands with a 1-1 draw.
On December 9, the victory of Al-Nassr FC will usher in another rival in the same city in Saudi Arabia, and host the 13th ranked Riyadh Sports.
On the weekend of December 16, there was a conversation between Sha Chaoqiang, the runner up of last season's Al-Nassr FC victory, and defending champion Jeddah. Ronaldo and former Real Madrid teammate Benzema played their respective roles. They were the captains of their respective clubs. Two star forwards formed a famous "BBC combination" with Bell at Real Madrid that year. However, because Jeddah United wanted to participate in the World Club Cup as the champion of the Saudi Arabia league last season, the Saudi Super League match between Jeddah United and Al-Nassr FC was postponed to December 27.On December 5th, in the final round of the AFC Champions League group stage, Jeddah United defeated Sepahan 2-1 at home, and two French stars Benzema and Kant were not included in the match list due to injuries. 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Benzema has been playing non-stop this season, only participating in two AFC Champions League group stage matches and failing to achieve a breakthrough of zero goals in the AFC Champions League. On December 13th, Jeddah United will face New Zealand team Auckland City in the first round of the Club World Cup.
