Ronaldo's Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr parts ways with coach Luis Castro | Football news

Portuguese coach Castro leaves the club after failing to win the league title in his first year at the helm of the Saudi club.

Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr has announced the departure of its Portuguese coach Luis Castro, one day after starting its AFC Champions League Elite season with a disappointing draw.

Castro leaves the team led by Cristiano Ronaldo after more than a year.

“Everyone at AlNassr would like to thank Luis and his staff for their dedicated work over the past 14 months,” the Riyadh-based club said in a post on X on Tuesday, without disclosing why he is no longer in the role.

The Portuguese coach led Al Nassr to win the Arab Club Champions Cup last year, a competition involving 37 teams from Asia and Africa.

Al Nassr are seventh in the table with five points after winning one of their first three league games this season.

Last season they finished second in the league, 14 points behind Al Hilal, and lost the Saudi Super Cup final 4-1 to the league champions in early August.

AlNassr can announce that head coach Luis Castro has left the club.

Everyone at AlNassr would like to thank Luis and his staff for their dedicated work over the last 14 months and wish them all the best for the future. pic.twitter.com/FznpvPHG0T

— AlNassr FC (@AlNassrFC_EN) 17 September 2024

The club played without its striker on Monday in a 1-1 draw with Iraq's Al Shorta. Ronaldo stayed behind in Riyadh because Al Nassr announced that the Portuguese superstar, who has won the UEFA Champions League five times but has yet to win a major trophy with his current club, had a viral infection and could not travel to Baghdad.

Castro previously coached teams such as Shakhtar Donetsk, with whom he won the Ukrainian Premier League in 2019–20, as well as Portuguese sides Vitoria Guimaraes, Porto and Rio Ave.

In April 2023, coach Rudi Garcia left Al Nassr after failing to reach first place despite Ronaldo's arrival four months earlier.

According to local media, Stefano Pioli, who led AC Milan to the Italian championship in 2022 and is available again after leaving the club in May, is on the list of Al Nassr's preferred successors.