Al-Nassr boss Rudi Garcia has warned that it will take Cristiano Ronaldo time to adapt to life at his new club after the Portuguese superstar failed to score on his Saudi Pro League debut.
Ronaldo, 37, has been forced to wait weeks for his official Al-Nassr bow due to a two-match ban given to him by the FA during his second stint at Manchester United. The veteran finally took to the field in the Saudi Pro League on Sunday, when Al-Nassr beat Ettifaq 1-0 to move to the top of the domestic standings.
Although all eyes were on Ronaldo, it was his team-mate, Anderson Talisca, who bagged the all important goal for Garcia's side.
And the Al-Nassr boss stressed after the match that it will take time for the five time Ballon d'Or winner to integrate into the squad after urging the rest of his squad to avoid simply trying to give the striker the ball all the time.
Garcia said: "It’s very important for the players to play normally and not always try to give the ball to Cristiano. I told them they need to make the right choices on the pitch.
"Obviously when Cristiano or Talisca are alone and asking for the ball we need to give them the ball. These two players are able to make the difference. Tonight, I think that sometimes we had good positions to cross but not enough people in the box – and sometimes no Ronaldo and no Talisca.
"We need to work on that, to have one of them in the box and maybe the other playing outside the box."
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Garcia went on to praise Ronaldo and insisted that he would make a massive difference to Al-Nassr's title hopes between now and the end of the season - once he is fully up to speed with life in the Middle East.
He added: "Everyone knows Cristiano – he’s a five-time Ballon d’Or winner. He’s one of the best players in the history of football. It’s up to us to make sure we get him in the best condition. I want him to enjoy playing here and tonight he was happy to play for the first time."
Al-Nassr, who have seen their social media following skyrocket since wrapping up a mega-money deal for Ronaldo last month, finished third in the Saudi Pro League last season but are currently one point above Al Hilal, the reigning Saudi champions, in the domestic standings.
Ronaldo and Al-Nassr return to action later this week when they face Al-Ittihad in the semi-finals of the Saudi Super Cup on Thursday night.
