Watch Sadio Mane's neck-grabbing incident in Al Nassr's Champions League defeat

Al Nassr forward Sadio Mane

Al Nassr’s exit from the AFC Champions League witnessed a series of controversial moments including a neck-grabbing incident between Sadio Mane and Al Ain player, Saeed Juma.

In the game played on Monday, March 11, 2024, the former Liverpool forward was lucky to have escaped a red card after holding the throat of the player.

The decision by the referee to punish Mane with a yellow card instead of a read infuriated Al Ain coach and Argentinian football great, Hernan Crespo, who hit out at the referee for the decision.

The game spelt the end of Al Nassr's campaign in the AFC Champions League after they were kicked out via a 3-1 shootout.

Al Nassr came into the game looking to overturn a 1-0 defeat. Their challenge worsened after they went down 2-0 by the end of the first half.

They, however, managed to surmount the challenge to draw 3-3 to send the game to penalty shootout.

In the shootout, Al-Ain scored three times to win 3-1 and book an AFC Champions League semi-final slot.

Ronaldo scored the consolation for Al Nassr in the penalties.