Al Nassr coach Jorge Jesus has said his team must find ways to compensate for a lack of “economic power” in order to beat big spenders Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League.
Saturday’s 2-0 league win at Al-Fateh saw Al Nasr maintain the pressure on league leaders Al Hilal and it also marked the return of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Al Nassr captain had missed the previous two league games as a form of protest against the lack of financial support Al Nassr had received from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund in the last transfer window compared to rivals Al Hilal, who signed Ronaldo’s former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema from Al Ittihad.
“I’ve already been at Al Hilal,” Jorge Jesus said.
“I’ve been on the other side, so I know what that’s like. I’ve already benefited from it. They have more economic power. When I was there, I benefited as a coach. It’s normal. Al Nassr, with different resources, has to compete for the top spots. We have to continue to be strong.”
Jorge Jesus, who steered Al Hilal to the league title, the Saudi Kings Cup and the Super Cup in 2024 in his second stint at the club, joined Al Nassr last summer with big aims.
“That’s why I was hired, to reduce the gap between Al Hilal and Al Nassr, in terms of titles and points,” the Portuguese coach said.
“And that’s what we’re doing. We have a lot of confidence in Al Nassr’s structure, a structure that, little by little, is increasingly managing to balance the group.
“But not only the group of players who play, but also a group off the field, a team that is aware of the difficulties, a team that knows it will be fighting against opponents with greater economic power, not sporting power.”
Ronaldo, 41, has yet to win a major trophy since arriving at Al Nassr in December 2022 after leaving Manchester United.
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He has finished as the top scorer in the Saudi Pro League the last two seasons and is the second leading scorer this season, just two goals behind Ivan Toney of Al-Ahli.
Al Nassr are second in the standings, one point adrift of Al Hilal.
“We are in the championship fight, we are one point behind the leaders, something Al Nassr hasn’t been able to do,” he said.
“In recent years, Al Nassr has finished 16 or 14 points behind the lead. This year we don’t want that to happen, I don’t know what will happen.
“We are confident that we can compete for the top spots until the end.”
