After Cristiano's exclusion: Postecoglou shakes up Al-Nassr's line-up in the AFC Champions League Elite

Al-Nassr's line-up against Pakhtakor

Ange Postecoglou has rolled the dice. The Australian coach has made sweeping changes to his Al-Nassr starting line-up for today's clash with Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor in the fourth round of the AFC Champions League Elite, a decision set to spark plenty of debate among supporters.

Defenders Abdulelah Al-Amri and Awad Aman return to the XI after warming the bench in the last domestic outing against Al-Khaleej, a thrilling 5-3 win for Al-Nassr in the 12th round of the Saudi Roshn League.

Portuguese midfielder Samu Costa also comes back into the fold, having missed the Al-Khaleej clash through suspension for accumulated bookings.

Shock: Ronaldo out of the plans

Here's the real bombshell. Postecoglou has left Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo and French defender Mohamed Simakan out of the travelling squad entirely, resting his biggest stars and leaning into rotation. Abdullah Al-Khaibari drops to the bench.

The Australian coach selected a starting line-up for Al-Nassr consisting of the following names:

Goalkeeper: Bento Matheus.

Defence: Awad Aman, Spain's Inigo Martinez, Abdulelah Al-Amri and Nawaf Boushal.

Midfield: Ayman Yahya, Brazil's Angelo Gabriel and Portugal's Samu Costa.

Attack: Senegal's Sadio Mane, Portugal's Joao Felix and Abdullah Al-Hamdan.

On the bench sit Abdulhadi Al-Alwan, Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi, Saad Al-Nasser, Iraq's Haidar Abdulkarim, Majed Qashish, Sami Al-Najei, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Rakan Al-Ghamdi, Salem Al-Najdi and Abdulrahman Sufyani.

Al-Nassr go into the match ninth in the AFC Champions League Elite standings with three points from one win and one defeat, plus a postponed fixture against the UAE's Al-Wasl from the last round. A victory would thrust them firmly back into the qualification race.