In an interview with the Saudi Pro League, published on Instagram and Twitter, he says that "the expectation was a little different".

"I was hoping to win something this year, but things aren't always the way we think or want", acknowledged the Portuguese striker.

The five-time winner of the Ballon d'Or, who has been at Al Nassr since the end of 2022, in what is his first experience outside Europe, is confident that the team will perform better next season.

"We need passion, consistency and persistence to achieve the best things. I still believe that next year we will improve a lot. In the last five or six months, the team has grown a lot", he said.

The captain of the Portuguese national team, adding that he was confident that the team would pick up titles very soon.

"Sometimes it takes time, but if we think about it and believe that it is our objective, I think anything is possible. I expected to win something this year, but we didn't manage to, but I am very confident that next year things will change," he said.

In 16 games for the Saudi club, Ronaldo scored 14 goals in 1,701 minutes of time played, which was insufficient for Al Nassr to be the national champion, finishing second behind Al Ittihad, trained by the Portuguese Nuno Espírito Santo.

In the interview, Cristiano Ronaldo praised the Saudi League, which he considered "competitive", but reinforced that "it has many opportunities to grow".

"We have very good teams and very good Arab players, but they need to improve the infrastructure a little more. Even the referees and the video referee system (VAR) should be a little faster. I think there are little things where they need to improve. But I'm happy here, I want to stay here, I'm going to stay here. And in my opinion, if they continue to do the job they want to do, in the next five years, I think the Saudi League can be one of the top five in the world ”, he reinforced.

On a personal and family level, the Portuguese also praised life in Saudi Arabia, where "it's very nice to live": "If you want to come here to have fun, get to know the culture and eat well. The Saudis live more at night, which I think it's very interesting. When you get to know the city at night, you realize it's very beautiful. And if you enjoy good food, come to Riyadh, the city has some of the best quality restaurants I've ever found".