Cristiano Ronaldo watched Al Nassr's final friendly in Spain from the stands as Almeria, a club he now part owns, beat the Saudi champions 2-0. Below him, Ange Postecoglou absorbed a third defeat of a preseason that has produced just one win. Five weeks into the job, the Australian has already learned that defending a title in Riyadh will be nothing like winning one.

Jorge Jesus left on the night the title was won, walking away in May after a 4-1 defeat of Damac sealed Al Nassr's first championship in seven years. The numbers he left behind would always be tough for any successor: 86 points, a 16-match winning run, and a two-point margin over an Al Hilal side that did not lose a league game all season. Postecoglou, appointed on a two-year contract on 3 July, inherits all of that expectation and almost none of the resources that built it.

Money is the story of Al Nassr's summer., and not for the reason you might think. Saudi outlet Arriyadiyah reported in July that the club's debts had climbed beyond 800 million riyals, roughly 212 million dollars, prompting the Public Investment Fund, which holds 75 percent of the club, to restrict spending until the accounts were repaired. The result was a freeze that lasted almost the entire window. Al Nassr went through a full preseason camp in Portugal without registering a signing, and Abdulrahman Ghareeb's contract renewal reportedly stalled for the same reason. Restrictions were lifted only this month, after a restructuring of the club's obligations and two new commercial deals satisfied the league's financial controls.

Which brings us to the one arrival. Samu Costa, 25, joins from Real Mallorca on a four-year deal, agreed back in July but announced only once the financial clearance came through. Even that carries a sting. Asharq Al-Awsat reports the transfer was funded through the Saudi Pro League's Recruitment Programme and that it consumed the club's entire allocation for the window. Postecoglou is reported to have asked the board to prioritise a right back. Whether that request can still be met before the window closes would now appear doubtful.

Costa at least addresses the most obvious gap. Marcelo Brozovic left when his contract expired in May, taking with him three seasons of tempo control at the base of midfield. Costa is a different animal. Across 108 appearances for Mallorca he built his reputation on duels, distances covered and the ugly work between both boxes rather than metronome passing. That profile arguably suits Postecoglou better than it would have suited Jesus. The Australian's teams press from the front, hold a high line and ask the deepest midfielder to sweep enormous spaces behind aggressive full backs. Costa will do the running. The harder question is who supplies the rhythm Brozovic provided, because with Joao Felix, Kingsley Coman and Sadio Mane still on the books, this squad has plenty of creators and rather less control in build-up.

Then there is the captain. Ronaldo turns 42 in February and is coming off a season that mocks the ageing curve, with 28 league goals in 30 appearances. He started all five of Portugal's matches at the World Cup, scored three times, became the oldest European to score at a men's World Cup, and went out in the round of 16 to Spain at what he seems to have confirmed would be his final tournament. He has not played a minute of Al Nassr's preseason. The club placed him on an individual conditioning programme in late July, judging recovery more valuable than friendlies. The plan is sensible. It is also a reminder that Postecoglou's high-intensity system must somehow house a 41-year-old who no longer presses, and that his success may depend less on ideology than on how elegantly he bends it.

Across Riyadh, the contrast is stark. Al Hilal went through last season's entire league campaign unbeaten, 25 wins and nine draws, and still finished second. Simone Inzaghi now begins his second year with Karim Benzema, who arrived in February after leaving Al Ittihad, and Crysencio Summerville, signed from West Ham in July for a fee Sky Sports put at up to 60 million pounds, among the largest in the league's history. Their preparation has not been flawless either. Saudi coverage of the Austria camp praised Summerville's sharpness and Benzema's improving movement while questioning whether Inzaghi's structure has fully taken hold. Nobody, though, doubts the depth of the squad or the intent behind it.

So how does this season go for Postecoglou? The ceiling and the floor are unusually far apart. His sides have historically improved sharply once his patterns bed in, and a campaign without a World Cup interruption gives him the clean run of training weeks Jesus never had. "It's another opportunity for me to test myself in a new environment and new country with a new team," he said in his first club interview, noting the Saudi league now has "four, five, six clubs that all are very, very competitive." The title defence begins on Saturday at Al-Awwal Park against Al Fateh, with the champions having spent less this summer than several of the clubs chasing them.

Postecoglou built his reputation, and no small part of his social media aura, on one line: he wins things in his second season. At Al Nassr, the second season is written into his contract. The first one will decide whether anyone lets him reach it.