Four absences reshape Barcelona squad for Galatasaray
Barcelona have named 22 players for their Champions League visit to Galatasaray on Tuesday 13 October, with Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong, Andreas Christensen and Roony Bardghji absent. The squad announce...
On Monday, Al-Nassr secured a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan's Neftchi in the AFC Champions League Elite after a security delay caused an hour-long interruption. The match, played in Riyadh, was initially delayed due to a safety warning issued by Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence 15 minutes before kickoff. The warning came amid recent missile strikes from Yemen-based Houthis targeting Riyadh.
Al-Nassr took the lead in the 33rd minute through Angelo's deflected goal. Cristiano Ronaldo scored Al-Nassr's second goal in the 42nd minute after receiving a pass from Sadio Mane. Ronaldo converted the opportunity by striking the ball into the bottom corner with his chest. Neftchi managed to pull one back with a goal by Alisher Odilov six minutes into the second half, but Ikromjon Alibaev received a red card for fouling Mohamed Simakan in the 65th minute. An own goal by Anvarjon Gofurov in the 76th minute sealed Al-Nassr's triumph.
In other matches, Al-Ahli from the UAE secured their first win of the new campaign with a 3-1 victory over Al-Wasl. Marino Pusic's side took the lead with a header from Roger Ibanez in the 20th minute. Trincao scored for Al-Ahli in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, and they added two more goals in the second half, taking them to a four-point total from their opening two matches. Trincao attributed their success to their improved physical condition compared to Neftchi.
Elsewhere, Al-Ain defeated Air Force Club 4-1 in Basra, with Houssine Rahimi scoring twice. Iran's Esteghlal also won 2-1 against Al-Gharafa, with Hossein Goudarzi's 60th-minute goal securing the win. Pakhtakor and Al-Qadsiah played to a 1-1 draw after a last-minute penalty from Dostonbek Khamdamov for Pakhtakor salvaged the match. Tractor from Iran ended their match against Qatar's Al-Shamal in a 0-0 draw.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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