Luis Castro has had an impressive start to life as Al-Nassr boss, with the side among the league’s finest. The Riyadh-based side picked up a fifth successive win at the expense of Al-Khaleej, who struggled to keep up with their star power.

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a fine strike from outside the box for his 12th league goal of the season to put Al-Nassr ahead in the clash. The 38-year-old then turned provider in the second half as he put the ball on a plate for Laporte to score his first goal since joining Al-Nassr in the summer.

After the match, Laporte posted a photo of him and Ronaldo in the dressing room, captioning the post with Ronaldo’s famous catchphrase “Suiiiii”. The defender’s Instagram post has generated over 550,000 likes since he uploaded it.

The former Manchester City man has been a stalwart for the Saudi side since joining in the summer, and has helped them reach second place in the league. They sit four points behind league leaders Al-Hilal in the standings after 12 rounds of matches.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Aymeric Laporte among European stars shining at Al-Nassr

In the last year, Saudi clubs turned to Europe to sign some of the biggest names from the continent as they look to strengthen their league. Among the stars who joined clubs in the league were Cristiano Ronaldo and Aymeric Laporte, both of whom joined Al-Nassr.

Players like Neymar, Aleksandr Mitrovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves and Kalidou Koulibaly joined Al-Hilal. Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, Allan Saint-Maximin, Roger Ibanez and Edouard Mendy joined Al-Ahli.

Al-Nassr have lost only two games all season with their star-studded squad remaining unbeaten since August. Luis Castro has built his team around the players brought in from Europe, including Otavio, Alex Telles, Anderson Talisca and Sadio Mane.

Cristiano Ronaldo has inspired his side in the Saudi Pro League this season and is leading the league’s goalscoring charts. Al-Nassr finished second behind Al-Ittihad in the league last season, and will be eager to go a step further this campaign.

Ronaldo and Laporte will play key roles for Al-Aalami in their pursuit of success this season, and they can help their team achieve its goals.