'Let's make it count' - Ronaldo's rally call for Capital Derby for the ages | OneFootball

Even for someone whose career is pretty much unrivalled, Cristiano Ronaldo recognised the magnitude of the moment that awaits.

Tuesday night’s hotly anticipated Capital Derby has been, and with justifiable reason, billed as the biggest match in the Roshn Saudi League in recent memory.

Certainly, since Ronaldo landed in the Kingdom to supercharge Saudi Arabian football.

As ever, the battle at Al Awwal Park not only pits against one another Riyadh’s greatest rivals, but this time also the top two teams in the 2025-26 RSL. There's only two full rounds of the season to run.

And so, frontrunners Al Nassr know victory on their own patch will secure a first top-flight trophy in seven years. Indeed, even more: Ronaldo’s first major piece of silverware since that ground-breaking move in the twilight of 2022.

At 41, Ronaldo concedes he’s in the back end of his superstar career, also. So this feels the time, his time to deliver.

For Al Hilal, five points back with a game in hand and a chance to squeeze the gap to an uncomfortable two, a win on what they perceive to be enemy turf would thrust the title race back into their hands.

That’s how grand the stakes are in the capital on Tuesday evening. Al Hilal know, Al Nassr know, and clearly their captain does, too.

Cristiano Ronaldo scores Al Nassr's third at Al Shabab to move to 100 RSL goals

For on Monday, 24 hours out from this colossal clash, Ronaldo posted on his official social media a rallying cry to the Al Nassr fans. They should return in kind, to be fair, given the game is a sellout. To be fair, it could sell out many times over.

"Your support has pushed us every single week," read Ronaldo's post. "In the stadium, at home and everywhere around the world. That energy is with us on the pitch.

"Let’s make it count. For us. For you. For Nassr. See you tomorrow."