Cristiano Ronaldo was on the receiving end of some heat from the fans for fouling Angel Di Maria. The incident occurred during the pre-season friendly between Al-Nassr and Benfica. During a play, Angel Di Maria lobbed the ball above Ronaldo, which led to Ronaldo retaliating with a harsh foul.
The video of the foul was making rounds on Twitter this morning. Most of the fans found Ronaldo guilty of bad sportsmanship. Some sections of fans questioned what he was trying to prove with this aggression in a pre-season friendly, while the hardcore fan base of the Portuguese argued about his competitiveness even in a friendly.
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— All About Argentina 🛎🇦🇷 (@AlbicelesteTalk) July 20, 2023
Fortunately, Angel Di Maria came out of the tackle unscathed and continued in the match. The match ended with a resounding victory for Benfica with a 4-1 scoreline. Angel Di Maria opened the scoring for the Portuguese side, Gonçalo Ramos scored a brace, and Andreas Schjelderup added the fourth in the second half. This marks a second loss in the pre-season for Al-Nassr after their defeat to Celta Vigo in their first match.
These back-to-back losses will pose questions to Ronaldo’s recent claims about the quality of the Saudi Pro League. The quality of their opponents will only increase from here on, as Al-Nassr travels to Japan to face PSG and Inter Milan.
Did Angel Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo play together?
The pre-season friendly between Benfica and Al-Nassr was a notable fixture for Real Madrid fans, as they had a chance to see two of their ex-superstars play against each other towards the twilight of their careers.
Angel Di Maria and Cristiano Ronaldo have a shared history with Real Madrid. The duo played together for the Spanish side from 2010 to 2014. Cristiano Ronaldo was already at Real Madrid when Angel Di Maria joined the club from Benfica in 2010.
The duo had a successful time together at Real Madrid. They won one La Liga title, two Spanish Cups, one Spanish Super Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, and the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League. Angel Di Maria was a fan favorite among Real Madrid fans for his pace and directness in the counter-attacking style of José Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti.
UCL final MOTM award 2013/14 https://t.co/NRkx4GwXR7 pic.twitter.com/l7SQcB0Th8
— 🏴 (@KieranCFC88) January 8, 2021
Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria often linked up together to score important goals for Los Blancos. The Argentine winger was effective on both wings and fed the Portuguese goalscorer on countless occasions. Ronaldo was among the most common names to finish the chances created by Angel Di Maria during their four seasons at Real Madrid.
Angel Di Maria moved away from Real Madrid in 2014 to join Manchester United, whereas Ronaldo stayed for another four years at Madrid before making his move to Juventus.
