SEOUL (AP) – Cristiano Ronaldo gets his first taste of Asian competition today as Al-Nassr meets Shabab Al-Ahli of Dubai in a Champions League preliminary round playoff with the rest of the continent wondering if big-spending Saudi Arabian clubs can be stopped.

Al-Nassr finished second in its domestic league last season but since signing the five-time Ballon D’Or winner in December, has added more stars this summer. Marcelo Brozkovic, Sadio Mane, Alex Telles and Seko Fofana have arrived from Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Lens respectively.

The club has lost its first two games of the new Saudi Professional League season and Shabab Al-Ahli may be champion of the United Arab Emirates but Al-Nassr is still seen as a strong favourite to progress to the group stage, especially as the single elimination game will take place at its Riyadh home.

“In the past, only Japanese and South-Korean clubs could compete with Saudi clubs,” Roel Coumans, who left his position as head coach of Saudi Arabian club Abha in the summer, told Associated Press. “The gap with Saudi teams will become bigger and bigger.”

During his time with Abha, the Dutch tactician grew accustomed to the underdog role while taking on the likes of Al-Nassr. “Now, from 10 games in the Asian Champions League, eight will be won by Saudi teams but it is a matter of preparation and you need a belief that you can achieve your ambition and of course you need a little bit of luck.”

If Al-Nassr defeats Shabab Al-Ahli, it will give Saudi Arabia four teams in the group stage that starts in September and they will present formidable opposition for the rest of the continent’s contenders. Al-Hilal, which as a record four Asian titles, has signed Brazilian superstar Neymar and Fulham striker Aleksander Mitrovic in the past week, with Al-Ittihad adding FIFA Ballon D’Or holder Karim Benzama from Real Madrid as well as N’Golo Kante and Fabinho from Chelsea and Liverpool.

Earlier in August, the new strength of the leading Saudi Arabian teams was clear for all to see at the Arab Club Cup as rivals from Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and elsewhere in the region struggled to compete.

Saudi Arabia dominated the 16-team tournament with three of the four representatives reaching the last four. Al-Nassr lifted the trophy, defeating Riyadh rival Al-Hilal in the final with Ronaldo finishing as tournament top scorer. With the Asian Champions League split into two geographic zones until the final, there is some hope for the eastern powers.

Urawa Reds of Japan defeated Al-Hilal in the final in May but needs to defeat Hong Kong’s Lee Man to progress to the group stage this time.

South Korea’s Incheon United meets Vietnam’s Haiphong. China will be hoping that both Shanghai Port and Zhejiang will progress to the group stage with victories over Thai opposition, BG Pathum United and Port respectively.

For now though, the focus is on Riyadh and on whether Ronaldo, who won the UEFA Champions League with Manchester United and four with Real Madrid, can lead his new team towards another continental prize.

BIRMINGHAM (AFP) – Aston Villa won for the first time this season as they routed Everton 4-0 on Sunday to erase the bitter taste of last weekend’s thrashing at Newcastle.

Tipped to improve on last season’s strong finish, Villa were hammered 5-1 on Tyneside in a shockingly bad start to their Premier League campaign.

But Unai Emery’s side got back on track in the Villa Park sunshine as goals from John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Leon Bailey and Jhon Duran brushed aside woeful Everton.

Emery will hope Villa’s biggest victory of his reign kick-starts a season in which they will compete in Europe for the first time in 13 years after qualifying for the Europa Conference League.

“Today we were very, very angry to get our performance at home and to forget last week’s match,” Emery said.

“We needed to react like we did. We did a lot of things good but there are some moments we can do better.”

Everton have less lofty ambitions after narrowly avoiding relegation last season and Sean Dyche’s men already look destined for another grim fight for survival.

Beaten 1-0 at home by Fulham last weekend, Everton have lost their opening two games in tame fashion.

It is only the third time Everton have been beaten in their first two league matches without scoring a goal and the first since 1956.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Dyche also had to contend with the sight of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Alex Iwobi both coming off injured.

“I won’t make any excuses. Really soft goals changed the feel of the stadium and the feel of our performance,” Dyche said. “Villa had more edge. They were far better than us. That was not good enough. It was way off where we want to be.”

Hampered by fitness and form issues, Calvert-Lewin had managed only four goals since August 2021 and scored just two last season.

Incredibly, the striker’s injury woes resurfaced when he needed lengthy treatment on a facial cut following a collision with Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez early in the first half.

Calvert-Lewin was able to continue but Everton fell behind in the 18th minute.

Bailey sprinted onto Moussa Diaby’s pass and cut the ball back to Scotland midfielder McGinn, who emphatically volleyed home from close-range.

Villa doubled their lead six minutes later from the penalty spot after Everton keeper Jordan Pickford caught Ollie Watkins with his out-stretched arm as he tried to punch clear.

Luiz stepped up to slot the spot-kick past Pickford, who was booked for trying to delay the penalty in an unsuccessful bid to distract the Brazilian.

Looking tentative whenever the ball came near him, Calvert-Lewin finally came off before half-time with blood still scarring his cheek wound.

Iwobi limped off to add to Everton’s problems and Villa added insult to injury with a third goal in the 51st minute.

Dismal defending by Michael Keane allowed Bailey space to plant a powerful drive past Pickford from 12 yards.

Many of Everton’s travelling fans had seen enough as they streamed towards the exits from Bailey’s goal.

It proved a wise move as Duran scored 47 seconds after coming on to complete the demolition in the 75th minute.

Keane was guilty of more sloppy defending, missing his kick to allow Duran to slot home.

On an otherwise perfect day, the only frustration for Villa was a late injury to Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho.

LONDON (AFP) – Mauricio Pochettino urged Chelsea to “believe in the process” after Michail Antonio’s superb strike and Enzo Fernandez’s penalty miss condemned the Blues to a 3-1 loss against West Ham on Sunday.

After last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool, Pochettino’s side wasted a lively performance as they paid the price for sloppy defending and wasteful finishing at the London Stadium.

Antonio blasted West Ham’s decisive second goal after half-time and Lucas Paqueta added a late penalty to leave Pochettino still waiting for his first Premier League win since taking charge in the close-season.

Chelsea teenager Carney Chukwuemeka had scored an eye-catching first half equaliser to cancel Nayef Aguerd’s early opener for West Ham.

But the turning point came when Fernandez’s penalty was saved by Alphonse Areola just before the break.

Antonio netted soon after the interval and Chelsea couldn’t respond despite Aguerd’s dismissal for a second booking midway through the half.

Paqueta, reportedly the subject of an FA probe into betting breaches, applied the knockout blow in the final seconds.

“Teams like us, we need to get the right balance. I think there were a few actions we didn’t manage well and we conceded,” Pochettino said.

“We create many chances and should have won the game with our first half.

“It was the frustration when we miss the penalty. We were playing well and we didn’t get the reward.

“Disappointed but this is only the beginning. We need to believe in the process.”

Dating back to last season, Chelsea have won just five times in 31 league matches, while their only victory in their last 14 top-flight games came at Bournemouth in May.

They have also lost four successive top-flight London derbies for the first time since 1990.

Much of the blame for those dismal statistics lies with Pochettino’s predecessors Graham Potter and Frank Lampard, who struggled through a turbulent campaign that ended with Chelsea’s lowest finish since 1996.

Pochettino has been tasked with cleaning up the mess, but despite recent signings of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia taking Chelsea’s total spending under owner Todd Boehly to more than GBP850 million (USD1.08 billion), the squad remains a work in progress.

MILAN (AFP) – Juventus got their Serie A season off to a perfect start with Sunday’s 3-0 stroll at Udinese which suggested they will be in the title mix, while Lecce struck twice late to beat last year’s runners-up Lazio 2-1.

Massimiliano Allegri’s Juve did all the damage in the first half with an early strike from Federico Chiesa, Dusan Vlahovic’s penalty and a header from Adrien Rabiot just before the break.

The away side then sat on their lead and comfortably held out for the win, and the return to form of injury-prone Chiesa will give Juve a boost as they try to bounce back from last season’s scandals.

“I wanted to do the knee slide as it had been a long time since I’d last done one,” joked Chiesa, who has suffered a series of knee problems, about his celebration after drilling home his second-minute opener.

“Like the manager said our aim is to get back into the Champions League, after that we’ll see.”

Points deductions over transfer irregularities led to Juve finishing seventh last term and then a ban from European football by governing body UEFA.

Without continental competition and with a fit squad Juve have been tipped to challenge for the Scudetto, and on Sunday’s evidence they will be a tough team to beat as they try to move towards a more aggressive, attacking style of play.

“We played very well today, especially in the first half. That’s how we need to play, a modern style of football,” added Chiesa.

“We have to go out and get after teams, we can’t just sit back and play on the counter.”

With 84 minutes gone at Lecce, Ciro Immobile’s 197th Lazio goal seemed to be the decisive strike.

BARCELONA (AFP) – Pedri and Ferran Torres’ late strikes earned La Liga champions Barcelona a 2-0 win over Cadiz in their first competitive home game away from Camp Nou on Sunday.

Atletico Madrid drew 0-0 at Real Betis in a dour clash.

Playing at the Olympic Stadium on the city’s Montjuic hill while their stadium is rebuilt and upgraded over the next year-and-a-half, Barcelona were nearly thwarted by visitors Cadiz.

After Getafe held them to a frustrating goalless draw on the opening weekend, Cadiz almost managed the same feat until Ilkay Gundogan cleverly released Pedri to score.

Substitute Torres drove through the middle and tucked home in stoppage time to put gloss on what was another unconvincing performance.

“I’m happy, quite satisfied with the team’s work and their positional play too, I think it’s a totally deserved victory,” said Barca coach Xavi Hernandez.

The Catalan coach, banned from the dugout after being sent off against Getafe, selected 16-year-old Lamine Yamal on the right in place of the suspended Raphinha, also dismissed last weekend as tempers frayed.

Yamal, on his first start for the club, came closest for the Catalans in the first half with an angled strike expertly tipped to safety by Jeremias Ledesma.