Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr teammates Aymeric Laporte and Marcelo Brozovic had a heated argument ahead of an AFC Champions League game against Al-Fayha on Wednesday evening. Brozovic had to be separated from the former Manchester City defender, who spoke out against life in Saudi Arabia in January.
The Croatian was angered by Laporte and tried to talk to the centreback before he was pushed away by teammate Ali Lajami. He and Lajami then had to be separated by a member of staff.
Brozovic and Laporte both joined Al-Nassr last summer, following Ronaldo’s controversial move in the transfer window prior. Team boss Luis Castro showed little concern for the spat, saying after the match: “These confrontations can be positive things.”
Goals from Ronaldo and former Porto winger Otavio pushed Al-Nassr to a comfortable 2-0 victory, advancing them to the AFC Champions League quarterfinals.
This is not the first time that Laporte has shown discomfort in his time in Riyadh, with the Spaniard speaking out at the end of last month on his dissatisfaction. He told AS: “It’s a big change compared to Europe, but in the end it’s all adaptation.
“They haven’t made it easy for us. In fact, many players are dissatisfied, but hey; we are working on it every day, negotiating so to speak, and to see if it improves a little because this is something new for them too, having European players who already have a long career. Maybe they are not used to this and have to adapt to a little more seriousness.”
He also voiced his disdain for Saudi authorities, saying: “Life for them… they take everything lightly. The ultimatum you can give them doesn’t matter to them. I mean, they’re really going about their business. You negotiate something and then they don’t accept it after you have signed it. They fight you.
“In Europe, they pay you a good salary, but they take care of you much more. To be honest, many us have also come here not only for football. Many of us are happy with that, but I am also looking for something beyond that, not the economic part and such. In terms of quality of life, I expected something different.”
The comments came shortly after England midfielder Jordan Henderson forced his way out of Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq with a headline move to Ajax.
Al-Nassr face Al-Shabab in the Saudi Pro League at 5pm on Sunday, as they chase down Al-Hilal at the top of the table.
