Ex-Al Nassr star appears to blame Cristiano Ronaldo for club's struggles

The Brazilian, who made his name at Benfica, is currently playing for Fenerbahce after departing the Saudi Pro League in January.

Talisca played for Al Nassr from 2021 to 2025, but had to make way when the team broke the SPL transfer record to land Jhon Duran from Aston Villa for £64million.

The Colombian got off to a flyer with four goals in three games, but he hasn't been able to stop the club slumping to two SPL defeats in three, leaving them out of the title race.

Now nine points behind leaders Al Ittihad, a fan account on X was critical of Duran's performances following Friday night's 2-1 defeat to Al Orobah, which led to Talisca firing back.

The Fenerbahce man replied to one post saying: "He is a great player and will do a lot for this club.

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"The problem is that you always want to find someone to blame for the defeats, but you don't see where the real mistake lies. Stop acting like this all the time.

"You know where the mistake is, you're just afraid to say it, lol."

In a further reply, he then added: "And on top of that, you want to do to Duran what they did to me, to benefit others."

The response to Talisca's surprise intervention has led fans to suggest that the 'real mistake' is Ronaldo - the 40-year-old club captain and football's all-time top scorer.

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One fan replied: "Just focus on your new club and shut up, don't talk about CR."

While another posted: "No you were a bad player before Ronaldo came."

A third wrote: "At least Ronaldo won a title for us, what did you do for Al-Nassr other than getting red cards and disappointment? Nothing."

However, there were far more that took Talisca's side, while agreeing that he was talking about Ronaldo.

A series of fans posted black and white photos of Ronaldo with a red cross, while one wrote: "Ronaldo is the mistake and we all know. We stand with you Talisca."

Another reply read: "Not all of us are like that, we love you, Tali.. but you know that Ronaldo believes that he is the best player in history, so we are lost."

While a third added: "You used to bail that team out, and they would praise Ronaldo for it. When they get defeated, they would blame you."

Former Real Madrid and Juventus man Ronaldo joined Al Nassr from Manchester United in January 2023 in a shock move that later became more mainstream.

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The following summer transfer window saw the SPL finish second to only the Premier League in spending as huge names like Karim Benzema, Neymar and N'Golo Kante made the jump.

Such an influx has contributed to Al Nassr and Ronaldo being unable to win a major trophy, just landing the Union of Arab Football Associations Cup, an intermittent competition held just five times in the last 12 years.