The reason behind Cristiano Ronaldo's hugely emotional celebration as he opened his AFC Champions League account

Cristiano Ronaldo cut a hugely emotional figure after inspiring Al Nassr to victory over Al Rayyan in the AFC Champions League.

Ronaldo returned to action on Monday as Al Nassr beat Al Rayyan 2-1 in their second fixture of this season's AFC Champions League campaign.

Former Liverpool man Sadio Mane opened the scoring just before the break as the former Manchester United superstar doubled his side's advantage in stunning style to open his account in the competition for the season.

Ronaldo curled home a sublime left-footed finish into the back of the net to make it 2-0 in the 78th minute.

As he wheeled away in celebration, the 39-year-old pointed to the skies as he dedicated his goal to his late father, who would have turned 71 today.

Cristiano Ronaldo dedicated his goal to his father. ❤️

pic.twitter.com/NRms8nnVXy

— CristianoXtra (@CristianoXtra_) September 30, 2024

Speaking after the game, Ronaldo made reference to his father, saying: “Today's goal has a different flavour and I wish my father was alive because today is his birthday.”

On the game and his own showing, he added: "It was a tough game, and we knew that we were prepared for it... and we managed to win.

"I'm enjoying playing football now and I know I don't have much time left on the pitch."

His father, Jose Dinis Aveiro, struggled with alcoholism and died of liver failure.

He passed away in 2005, just two years after Ronaldo arrived in England to sign for Man United.

So, he missed his son winning five Champions League titles, five Ballon d'Or awards and leading Portugal to Euro 2016 triumph.

Ronaldo was just 20 when his father died.

In an interview with Piers Morgan, he revealed that he barely spoke to his father due to his drinking problems.

"I really don’t know my father 100 per cent. He was a drunk person. I never spoke with him, like a normal conversation. It was hard," he said.

"To be the number one and he don’t see nothing, and he don’t see to receive awards, to see what I became."