Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Al Nassr's line-up for Saturday's match at Al Fateh after boycotting the club's past two Saudi Pro League matches.
This came after he has been unhappy with the way Al Nassr are being run following rivals Al-Hilal signing former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema in January.
Al-Hilal are in a much better position
Both sides are controlled by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Ronaldo felt that the side was being neglected. Now, manager Jesus has confirmed that Al-Hilal are better off financially which only confirms Ronaldo’s suspicions.
“I've already been at Al Hilal. I've been on the other side, so I know what that's like. I've already benefited from it. They have more economic power. When I was there, I benefited as a coach. It's normal. Al-Nassr, with different resources, has to compete for the top spots. We have to continue to be strong.
“That's why I was hired, to reduce the gap between Al Hilal and Al Nassr, in terms of titles and points. And that's what we're doing. We have a lot of confidence in Al Nassr's structure, a structure that, little by little, is increasingly managing to balance the group.
“But not only the group of players who play, but also a group off the field, a team that is aware of the difficulties, a team that knows it will be fighting against opponents with greater economic power, not sporting power.”
Reports state Ronaldo's protest was harming the image of the SPL and the Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund in a story that could develop further following Jesus’ comments on the state of the two sides.