Cristiano Ronaldo asks for referee to be substituted in Al Nassr game

Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to ask for the referee to be substituted during Al Nassr's game against Al Ettifaq.

The Riyadh outfit took on Steven Gerrard's side in a King Cup of Champions round of 16 clash at the King Saud University Stadium and won 1-0 in extra time courtesy of a goal from former Liverpool star Sadio Mane.

Anderson Talisca had a goal disallowed for offside by VAR at the end of the first half before he was controversially sent off shortly after.

Ronaldo was furious and cameras picked up his reaction to the referee.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner made no secret of his opinion, making a substitution gesture and pointing to the man in the middle.

Cristiano Ronaldo asking for the referee to be changed during the game 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/yFsovpTRi1

— TC (@totalcristiano) October 31, 2023

Ronaldo had already been riled up by some Al Ettifaq fans chanting for rival Lionel Messi after his eighth Ballon d'Or win on Monday.

He responded by putting his finger to his lips and shushing the supporters.

And then when Mane found the net with the winning goal, both he and Ronaldo couldn't resist the temptation to goad the visiting fans and cupped their ears.

Ronaldo was overlooked in the Ballon d'Or rankings, failing to make the final 30.

Although he has not directly addressed his omission, Ronaldo posted laugh reacts on a post from AS which contained quotes from from journalist Tomas Roncero on Messi's latest triumph.

He wrote: "Hello friends what we already knew has happened. They were going to give another Ballon d’Or to Messi. He went to retire in Miami, but he was already looking like retired at PSG to prepare for the World Cup, he won the World Cup, yes, well, but with six penalties.

"The World Cup was 10 months ago, we’re in November. Messi has eight Ballon d’Ors well, he should have five. He has the Ballon d’Ors of [Andres] Iniesta and Xavi, [Robert] Lewandowski who won 6 trophies in one season and [Erling] Haaland who was the top scorer of everything.”