Cristiano Ronaldo is set to play for his fourth coach in 18 months at Al Nassr after Stefano Pioli was appointed as the club’s new boss, just a couple of days after Luis Castro’s dismissal.

The writing was on the wall for Castro after a slow start to the season culminated in a disappointing 1-1 AFC Champions League Elite draw away to Iraqi side Al Shorta in Baghdad on Tuesday. Ronaldo was missing from that game with a virus, meaning his final game under Castro was last Friday’s 1-1 Saudi Pro League draw with Al Ahli.

The Portuguese pair had enjoyed an excellent working relationship after Castro took over from Rudi Garcia as Al Nassr coach last July, though Ronaldo and Castro’s failure to win any trophies beyond the 2023 Arab Club Champions’ Cup ultimately led to the latter’s departure.

“Al Nassr can announce that head coach Luis Castro has left the club," a statement posted on X said. "Everyone at Al Nassr would like to thank Luis and his staff for their dedicated work during the past 14 months, wishing them the best of luck for the future."

As well as Castro and Garcia, Ronaldo briefly played for Croatian Dinko Jeličić, who was interim Al Nassr coach for a couple of months at the end of the 2022-23 season. Now, Al Nassr’s captain must forge a connection with a new manager, with Pioli arriving in Riyadh after a five-year stint at AC Milan.

Pioli will be the third Italian coach that Ronaldo has played under in his career. The ex-Real Madrid and Manchester United superstar scored 112 goals in 101 matches for Carlo Ancelotti with Los Blancos, as well as netting 27 in 46 for Maurizio Sarri and 28 in 44 for Massimilano Allegri at Juventus. Ronaldo has won nine major honors in all with Italian coaches including, most notably, the UEFA Champions League for Ancelotti’s Real Madrid in 2014.

Joining Al Nassr with an impressive coaching pedigree, Pioli helped revive the fortunes of AC Milan - guiding the Rossoneri to the 2021-22 Serie A title, the club’s first in 11 years. One of Pioli's first signings at Milan was Ronaldo's international team-mate Rafael Leão, with the Portuguese winger proving a vital player during the Italian's tenure.

Pioli was reportedly extremely close to joining Al Ittihad during the summer before the Jeddah club opted instead for Laurent Blanc; the last-ditch change resulted in the resignation of Ittihad president Loay Nazer. Instead, Pioli now moves to Riyadh as the first major appointment of sporting director Fernando Hierro, who only joined Al Nassr himself in June.

"I’m happy with Pioli’s arrival, and the decision to hire him was made collectively. What matters most is the best interest of the team,” Hierro said on Thursday at the unveiling of Pioli, who has signed a two-year contract until 2026. “I evaluated him out of 10 coaches, then I chose three of them and the final choice fell on him.”

Hierro also took the opportunity to thank Castro for his time at the Al Nassr, adding: “He is a professional coach, and it is impossible in football. You have to find the right time to change coach.

"We understand that a team of Al-Nassr’s stature will always face scrutiny if results don’t go well. That’s natural for a big club, and we are here to improve the situation within the club."

Getting the best out of Ronaldo was never a problem for Castro, under whom the Portuguese No. 7 had one of his most prolific scoring seasons in recent memory - winning the Saudi Pro League Golden Boot in 2023-24 with a record-breaking 35 goals.

Instead, Pioli’s main challenge is making Al Nassr competitive in its most crucial games, when the pressure is at its highest. Ronaldo experienced these struggles firsthand in his early months at the club in 2023 as Nassr squandered a comfortable lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League table to finish second to Al Ittihad.

Last season, too, Nassr and Ronaldo fell short at many key moments, with a 3-0 defeat to Al Hilal in last December’s Riyadh derby setting Jorge Jesus’ side on the way to becoming runaway Saudi Pro League champions.

Al Nassr also lost crunch penalty shootouts to Al Ain in the AFC Champions League quarter-finals and Al Hilal in the King’s Cup final, as well as succumbing to its Riyadh rival in the Saudi Super Cup semi-final in April and then again in the final of the 2024 edition of the same competition last month.

Pioli is a hugely experienced coach in Italy who, as well as AC Milan, has led Fiorentina, Inter Milan, Lazio and Bologna. But the 58-year-old is untested outside of his homeland and there is little time for him to ‘bed in’ given Nassr has already started slowly and needs to win matches immediately if Ronaldo and Co. are to seriously challenge for the Saudi Pro League title this season.

Still, Pioli is a quality coach who is recognized for his tactical versatility and who has built sides that have been both solid defensively and fluid in attacking transitions. The Italian is also highly regarded for his man-management skills and a focus on player development, bringing through several young talents at Milan. This should prove useful given Nassr has just announced the double signing of highly rated 19-year-old Brazilian duo Ângelo Gabriel and Wesley from Chelsea and Corinthians respectively.

Pioli’s first match is a difficult one on Friday night against Steven Gerrard’s Al Ettifaq, one of only three teams - along with reigning champions Al Hilal and current table-toppers Al Ittihad - that won their first three Saudi Pro League matches of the season. It is an early opportunity for Pioli to stamp his mark on the team, but his second match will be a much more appealing prospect: a King’s Cup last-32 encounter with second-tier side Al Hazm.

The real scrutiny will likely begin with next week’s Saudi Pro League clash against Al Wehda, before Pioli coaches his first AFC Champions League Elite game against Al Rayyan on September 30. By then, it will likely be clear whether Pioli, Ronaldo and Al Nassr can be a successful match.