Ronaldo excluded... Jesus reveals!

Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus, manager of Saudi Arabia's Al-Nassr, confirmed that the exclusion of Cristiano Ronaldo and several other key players from the AFC Champions League Round of 16 first-leg match against Turkmenistan's Arkadağ was a tactical decision aimed at managing player fatigue and rotating the squad. During the pre-match press conference, Jesus explained that this rotation policy has become necessary due to the pressure of consecutive matches both domestically and continentally. He noted that the current priority is the upcoming domestic match against Al-Fateh in the 22nd round of the Roshan League, but the full focus will be on the continental competition against Arkadağ. The Al-Nassr coach added, "I am happy that the team is here in Turkmenistan; we are representing Saudi football. We are aware of the difficulty of the match, but we are fully prepared to achieve a positive result in the first leg of the next round."