Ronaldo Benzema GFXGetty/GOAL

What crisis?! Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema are back among the goals: Saudi Pro League winners and losers as superstar forwards rediscover their mojo after slow starts

It took three rounds of matches, but the Saudi Pro League's biggest stars finally began to make their mark on the 2023-24 season through Thursday and Friday, as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema kickstarted their campaigns in style.

After back-to-back defeats to start the season, Ronaldo and Al-Nassr picked up their first points of the season with a dominant 5-0 win over Al-Fateh, with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner netting a hat-trick, while fellow big-name forward Sadio Mane struck twice.

Over at Al-Ittihad, meanwhile, Benzema put behind him an apparent row with manager Nuno Espirito Santo to score his first Pro League goal as the defending champions made it three wins from three with a 4-0 victory over Al-Riyadh.

Ittihad are joined at the top of the table by newly-promoted Al-Ahli, who needed a stoppage-time goal from Franck Kessie to sneak past Al-Akhdoud, while Al-Hilal got back to winning ways after a draw on matchday two as they beat Al-Raed 4-0.

With all that in mind, GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from the latest round of Saudi Pro League action...

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