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Ronaldo Rested as Al Nassr Top Asian Champions League Group

Al-Nassr's Portuguese forward #07 Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the AFC Champions League group E football match between Saudi Al-Nassr SC and Tajikistan's FC Istiklol at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh on October 2, 2023. (AFP)
Al-Nassr's Portuguese forward #07 Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the AFC Champions League group E football match between Saudi Al-Nassr SC and Tajikistan's FC Istiklol at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh on October 2, 2023. (AFP)
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Ronaldo Rested as Al Nassr Top Asian Champions League Group

Al-Nassr's Portuguese forward #07 Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the AFC Champions League group E football match between Saudi Al-Nassr SC and Tajikistan's FC Istiklol at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh on October 2, 2023. (AFP)
Al-Nassr's Portuguese forward #07 Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his team's first goal during the AFC Champions League group E football match between Saudi Al-Nassr SC and Tajikistan's FC Istiklol at King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh on October 2, 2023. (AFP)

Al Nassr rested Cristiano Ronaldo and started the majority of their foreign contingent on the bench as they concluded the Asian Champions League group campaign with a 1-1 draw away to Istiklol on Tuesday night.

With progress secured with one matchday to spare, Nassr manager Luis Castro chose to leave Ronaldo out of the squad for the match in Dushanbe, while he named among his substitutes the likes of Sadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte, Otavio and Anderson Talisca.

Istiklol took the lead at the Pamir Stadium just after the half hour when midfielder Alisher Dzhalilov fired a fine low shot into the bottom corner, AFP reported.

The hosts, yet to win in this season’s competition, were hoping for three points to lift them off the bottom of the group.

However, Abdulrahman Ghareeb levelled five minutes into the second half, the Nassr winger converting a close-range volley at the second time of asking following an initial stop from Istiklol goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov.

Castro did send for Talisca, Nassr’s second-top scorer this season behind Ronaldo, in the 74th minute, and Ivory Coast midfielder Seko Fofana and Portugal winger Otavio late on but the visitors could not snatch the win.

Nassr ended the group stage unbeaten, with four victories and two draws.

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Dakar Rally Comes Down to a Duel in the Sand between Lategan and Saudi Arabia's Al-Rajhi

Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)
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Dakar Rally Comes Down to a Duel in the Sand between Lategan and Saudi Arabia's Al-Rajhi

Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)
Driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi and co-driver Timo Gottschalk compete during the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally between Haradh and Shubaytah, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP)

Henk Lategan and Yazeed Al-Rajhi will duel in the Saudi sand for their first Dakar Rally title after swapping the lead for a second straight day Wednesday.

South Africa's Lategan leads his Saudi rival by 2 1/2 minutes going into the 11th and penultimate stage in the Empty Quarter dunes. Friday's last stage is a ceremonial drive to the finish in Shubaytah.

Al-Rajhi led by seven minutes before the 10th stage, a tricky 120-kilometer loop south of Shubaytah on Wednesday. But he got stuck and relinquished the overall lead back to Lategan.

“We got stuck because we were taking it easy,” Al-Rajhi said. “Everything is going good, that's the most important (thing). I have a good position, I hope.”

Lategan also took it easy but without finding any trouble, and was 10th on the stage, making up minutes on all of his nearest pursuers.

“It wasn't the plan to go quickly today,” Lategan said.

On Thursday, he will start 10th and Al-Rajhi 27th and they can push harder by taking advantage of the tracks of those in front.

'Most disappointing day of my life'

Third-placed Mattias Ekström fell two minutes further back to 27 minutes, and five-time champion Nasser Al-Attiyah lost five minutes to drop back to 30.

Al-Attiyah, the only former champion with an outside title shot, got lost about nine kilometers in.

“I'm very disappointed, but what can you do?” Al-Attiyah said. “We had a good pace but we lost a lot of time. This is the most disappointing day of my life.”

Spain's Nani Roma, one of only three men to win the Dakar in a car (2014) and motorbike (2004), won his first stage in nine years by 18 seconds from Lucas Moraes of Brazil. Brian Baragwanath of South Africa was third.

Sanders on the brink

Australian rider Daniel Sanders was on the brink of his first Dakar title in a motorbike race he's dominated from stage one.

Sanders was fourth on the 116-kilometer stage but ahead of his nearest rivals, extending his overall lead by about two minutes against Spain's Tosha Schareina and France's Adrien van Beveren.

The advantage over Schareina was 16 1/2 minutes, the biggest in the race so far.

“It's pretty much survival tomorrow and just get(ting) through,” Sanders said. “I think we'll be all right. I felt really good in the navigation and I was opening a little bit and then, yeah, it felt nice. So yeah, ready for tomorrow.”

Portugal's Rui Gonçalves won his maiden stage in his fifth Dakar by nearly four minutes from Slovakia's Stefan Svitko. American Skyler Howes was third.