Cristiano Ronaldo's first 100 Saudi Pro League appearances in numbers

Cristiano Ronaldo's move to Al-Nassr in late 2022 kickstarted an exodus of star players from Europe to the Saudi Pro League.

Neymar, Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante were among the biggest names to follow the five-time Ballon d'Or winner to Saudi Arabia, while the country's Public Investment Fund still has designs on attracting others – most notably Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah.

Some of those moves have worked out, others proved short-lived, but Ronaldo is still going strong after 100 games in the Pro League.

After recovering from a hamstring injury, Ronaldo brought up his century of appearances in Al-Nassr's 5-2 win over Al-Najma, scoring a brace in the second half at Al-Awwal Park. 

Since Ronaldo's competition debut in January 2023, only Firas Al-Buraikan (108), Aschraf El Mahdioui (103), Mansour Hamzi (102) and Fabio Martins (101) have made more Pro League appearances, with El Mahdioui the only player to better Ronaldo's 8,707 minutes (9,058). 

Ronaldo has scored 97 Pro League goals to date, at least 41 more than any other player since his debut, with Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah his closest rival on 56. 

Those goals have come from a figure of 89.8 expected goals (xG), while his 70 non-penalty goals are also an overperformance compared to his 66.2 non-penalty xG, showing Ronaldo's finishing ability has not deserted him, even in the twilight years of his career. 

Ronaldo has always been a high-volume shooter, and that is certainly still the case.

The Al-Nassr star has had 537 shots in the Pro League, with the next-highest shot taker since his debut only attempting 277 (Mourad Batna). Ronaldo's 223 shots on target are also 95 more than second-best Karim Benzema (128). 

Ronaldo has scored 69 goals with his right foot, 17 with his left and 10 via headers, while 14 of his strikes have come from outside the area. 

It will take a big effort, but Ronaldo could equal the record for the fastest player to ever reach 100 goals in the competition – Hamed-Allah currently holds that achievement after reaching a century of goals in 101 matches, with a hat-trick against Al-Okhdood on April 11 being enough for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. 

But Ronaldo's game is not only about goals, as he also has 18 assists during his time in the Pro League, with his 115 total goal involvements putting him well clear of next-best Salem Al Dawsari and Hamed-Allah, who both have 65 direct contributions since Ronaldo's debut.

The one thing that has eluded Ronaldo to this point, though, is a league title.

The 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup remains the only trophy Ronaldo has lifted with Al-Nassr, and he skipped two games earlier this year after a dispute with the club's hierarchy over transfers, reportedly angered that Benzema had been allowed to join title rivals Al-Hilal, who, like Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad, are run by the PIF.

But this could finally be the year, with Al-Nassr boasting a six-point lead over Al-Hilal at the top of the table, with seven games of their season remaining. Ronaldo has not won a league title since triumphing in Serie A with Juventus in 2019-20.

Ending that drought in the coming weeks would be the ideal way for what will surely be Ronaldo's final tilt at World Cup glory with Portugal this summer.