Ronaldo expressed his frustration during a match in the AFC Champions League. Al Nassr had to come from behind to win 4-2 against Shabab Al Ahli of the UAE in a playoff match to advance to the group stage of the AFC Champions League. Despite taking an early lead, Al Nassr found themselves trailing in the second half and faced difficulties in finding an equalizer.

Ronaldo expressed his frustration by yelling at the referee after not being awarded a penalty multiple times. There were five instances during the match when Al Nassr could have been awarded a penalty, with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane being fouled twice each inside the penalty area. In these fouls, both players were at least once fouled with contact that involved no attempt to play the ball.

Additionally, Ronaldo had a diving header that hit the arm of a Shabab Al Ahli player, with the arm extended widely, but the Chinese referee Fu Ming did not award a penalty. In this playoff round, there was no VAR to review the situations, and it seems that even in the group stage, VAR may not be available.

Ronaldo was visibly upset during the match and confronted the referee. After the match, he continued to express his frustration towards the referee, using strong language in English. Ronaldo also pushed a man wearing a green shirt, who was a member of the coaching staff of Shabab Al Ahli and intended to take a selfie with Ronaldo.

The frustration of Ronaldo and Al Nassr players during this match was justified and highlighted the poor refereeing. The absence of VAR at the highest level of Asian competition is also a point of contention, as VAR is set to be used only in the knockout stages of the tournament, leaving teams like Al Nassr without its assistance in the playoff round.