ABU DHABI: Cristiano Ronaldo and his Al Nassr team suffered a 1-0 loss against United Arab Emirates’ Al Ain club in their AFC Champions League quarterfinal first-leg clash at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Monday.

Soufiane Rahimi scored the match’s only goal right before half-time in the 44th minute.

Despite registering more shots on target and enjoying a greater share of possession than its opponent, Al Nassr could not break down the Al Ain side, which displayed a spirited performance in front of its home crowd.

Getting an additional 11 minutes at the end of the second-half, Al Nassr kept pushing for the equaliser. However, its night turned from bad to worse after centre-back Aymeric Laporte saw a red card for shoving Al Ain right-back Bandar Al-Ahbabi to the ground.

The second leg will be played on March 12