Al Nassr coach Rudi Garcia has blamed Cristiano Ronaldo for the team’s Saudi Super Cup semi-final exit.

The Portuguese star endured a frustrating outing on Thursday against Al-Ittihad, managing just one attempt on target during the match.

The effort went straight to the hands of the keeper, from a good position, and Al-Ittihad doubled their lead just 28 seconds later.

Al Nassr did pull one back through Anderson Talisca but Muhannad Shanqeeti’s strike deep into injury time killed the contest.

Speaking after the game, Garcia said he thinks that the outcome could have been different if Ronaldo had not fluffed his opportunity at that crucial moment.

“One of the things that changed the course of the match was Cristiano’s missed opportunity in the first half,’ Garcia assessed after the game.

“I congratulate Al-Ittihad. They presented a much better first half than us, and we played a good second half, but unfortunately we were not able to adjust the result. It’s true that we regret losing the Super Cup, but we are still the first in the league.”