Without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, Al-Nassr from Saudi Arabia drew 1-1 with Iraq’s Al-Shorta in the first match of the newly renamed AFC Champions League Elite on Monday.
Ronaldo stayed in Riyadh because he had a viral infection and could not travel to Baghdad, according to Al-Nassr. Despite winning five UEFA Champions Leagues, Ronaldo has not yet won a major trophy with his current club.
Sultan Al-Ghannam scored for Al-Nassr after 14 minutes, but Mohammed Dawood equalized for Al-Shorta ten minutes later.
Al-Nassr faced another setback when Croatian player Marcelo Brozovic left the field injured early in the second half.
In other matches, Al-Ahli, another top Saudi Arabian team, won 1-0 against Persepolis from Iran in Jeddah. Former Barcelona and AC Milan player Franck Kessie scored in the first minute.
Ivan Toney, who recently joined Al-Ahli from English Premier League team Brentford, made his debut but did not score. Riyad Mahrez, formerly of Manchester City, missed a penalty in the second half, but Al-Ahli still managed to win.
Al-Ain from the United Arab Emirates, which won the last Asian Champions League before it was replaced by the Elite version, started with a 1-1 draw against Al-Sadd of Qatar. In another game, Esteghlal of Iran defeated Al-Gharafa of Qatar 3-0.
The 24 teams in the tournament are split into two groups of 12, based on their geographic regions, and each team plays eight games. The top eight teams from each group will advance to the round of 16.
Saudi Arabia’s third team, Al-Hilal, will play on Tuesday against Al-Rayyan in Qatar.
