Is Cristiano Ronaldo going to miss out on ANOTHER Saudi Pro League title?! Al-Nassr's mini-crisis threatening to extend trophy drought ahead of make-or-break clash with leaders Al-Hilal

Ronaldo is on his fourth permanent coach since moving to the Middle East midway through the 2022-23 season. Such is his influence at Al-Awwal Park, he effectively got rid of Rudi Garcia after Al-Nassr were overtaken by Al-Ittihad in the closing stages of the title race.

Luis Castro survived a second-placed finish the following year, mainly because nobody could have lived with Al-Hilal during their undefeated campaign, but he eventually made way for Stefano Pioli in September 2024.

Remarkably, Al-Nassr actually regressed under the former AC Milan boss, who was sacked last June, after failing to mount a proper SPL title challenge and being upset by Kawasaki Frontale in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League.

Consequently, Al-Nassr decided to turn to Jorge Jesus, the man responsible for Al-Hilal's historic 2023-24 title triumph and a former Copa Libertadores winner with Flamengo.

It initially appeared as though Jesus might be capable of masterminding another undefeated SPL success. During their 10 consecutive victories between August 29 and December 27, Al-Nassr scored 33 goals while conceding only five.

Ronaldo was on target in all but one of those wins, striking 12 times in total. However, he was by no means Al-Nassr's only attacking threat. Sadio Mane was both creating and taking chances on the left wing, while star summer signings Joao Felix and Kingsley Coman had both taken the SPL by storm.

"All of us are quality players, and playing all four together, because we get on well, things end up going well," two-time Chelsea flop Felix told the league's official website.

"It's good that we're all together, because when one isn't doing so well one day, the other three are. Or if two aren't doing so well, the other two are, and end up helping the team.

"I think that, when all four of us are doing well, we're unstoppable here in Saudi Arabia."

Unfortunately for Al-Nassr, that's no longer the case.

Given their enviable array of attacking talent, Al-Nassr weren't expected to struggle while Mane was away on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Senegal - not least because Wesley looked like an able deputy. 

In their first match after Mane's departure, Jesus' team coasted to a 3-0 win over Al-Okhdood thanks to Ronaldo's first-half double, and an injury-time finish from Felix.

The Portuguese pair struck again against Al-Ettifaq on December 30 (even if Ronaldo knew nothing about a goal that went in off his back) - but Al-Nassr dropped points for the first time this season due to an 80th-minute equaliser from Gini Wijnaldum, who had also opened the scoring at the EGO Stadium.

Jesus, though, was clearly irked by the negative reaction to the 2-2 draw, and particularly claims that a poor result had been coming.

"We score and win in all matches, so our situation can’t be judged as positive only when we win," the Portuguese argued. "Sometimes you do everything right and still don’t win.

"I am satisfied with our performance and the many chances we created. So, I don’t agree with those who say Al-Nassr needed some sort of wake-up call.

"It was an entertaining match for both sides, and one of Al Nassr's best performances this season. But football doesn’t always reward the superior team in every match."

Ronaldo was also far from despondent. "We are on the right path," he wrote on Instagram, "and we know what we need to do in 2026!"

However, Al-Nassr couldn't have made a worse start to the New Year.

Al-Nassr were only beaten 3-2 by Al-Ahli at the Alinma Bank Stadium on January 2 but the scoreline flattered the visitors.

They showed impressive resilience in coming back to draw level after the shock of conceding twice to Ivan Toney inside the opening 20 minutes, but Merih Demiral's 55th-minute winner was just reward for Al-Ahli, who had a whopping eight big chances during the game. Despite scoring twice, Al-Nassr didn't create one, with Abdulelah Al Amri's two goals coming courtesy of a goalkeeping howler, and a towering header from a corner.

Consequently, Jesus couldn't hide behind statistics after the loss of his side's unbeaten record. "We were poor defensively," he admitted.

However, Jesus also felt that his side had been "outplayed" because "Al Ahli were physically better". "The victory," he said, "was more about fitness than anything else."

Given fatigue had become such a concern for the coach, perhaps Al-Nassr losing 2-1 at home to Al-Qadsiah just three days later shouldn't have come as such a surprise.

Jesus was adamant that his side didn't deserve to be beaten on Thursday night, particularly as both of Al-Qadsiah's goals had come from defensive mistakes. "It's as if some people want to say that Al-Nassr played a bad match today, and that's not true," he fumed. "Al-Nassr did not play a bad match." They certainly hadn't been good, though. 

Even before the 51st-minute howler from goalkeeper Nawaf Al Aqidi that gifted Julian Quinones the game's opening goal, the home side had played without any great fluency and looked devoid of a real cutting edge. They only managed three shots on target across the entire 90 minutes - and one of those was Ronaldo's late penalty.

It's now clear, then, that Mane is being missed, while the unavailability of former RB Leipzig centre-back Mohamed Simakan through injury has also devastated a defence that has kept just one clean sheet without him. Consequently, Coman is in no doubt that the imminent return of those two players will help Al-Nassr return to winning ways.

"At the moment, it is not going so well," the former Bayern Munich winger said. "But we need to believe in ourselves. We need to stay confident, because we are still a good team.

"We wish that we could win every game in the season, but it's just three games [we've failed to win] and [Simakan] is coming back, and Sadio will too. So, we just need to stick together. We can win the next game." 

The main thing, though, is that they don't lose it.

Al-Nassr's mini-crisis couldn't have come at a worse time, as their great rivals Al-Hilal have found their best form, with Simone Inzaghi's side having won their last 10 league games to turn a four-point deficit at the top of the table into a four-point advantage.

Consequently, if the leaders were to overcome their closest challengers at the Kingdom Arena on Monday night, Al-Hilal winning a second title in three seasons without losing a game would become a real possibility.

Al-Nassr intend to do everything within their power to flip the narrative, though, and Jesus is hoping that his tiring team will be reinvigorated by the addition of at least two new players during the winter window. 

For now, though, he has to make do with what he has and ensure that Al-Hilal do not stretch their lead to seven points with a derby win. 

Having Ronaldo within their ranks is unquestionably a cause for optimism for Al-Nassr in this time of need. He may not be the force of nature he once was but the biggest of big-game players remains as determined as ever before.

"Football is like this," Ronaldo told Arab News after the Al-Qadsiah defeat. "You have good moments and bad moments. But the most important thing is to be professional, to push hard, respect the club, respect your contract, and believe that things will change. 

"For Al-Nassr, we'll keep pushing to win more titles." At this point, winning just one would be quite the achievement for Ronaldo.