Al-Nassr overturned a 1-0 first leg deficit to win 4-3 on Tuesday (AEDT) but with the contest ending 4-4 on aggregate, the players headed into a shootout from which Al-Ain prevailed.
Al-Nassr's foreign imports Miroslav Brozovic, Alex Telles and Otavio all failed to score from the spot as the side from the United Arab Emirates advanced to the semi-finals, where they will face either Al-Hilal or Al-Ittihad - both from Saudi Arabia - next month.
Al-Ain goalkeeper Khalid Eisa saved Brozovic's opening penalty and, with Soufiane Rahimi, Kaku and Sultan Al Shamsi all converting, Otavio's miss meant Al-Nassr were eliminated.
The shootout brought a dramatic end to a thrilling clash at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh that featured seven goals and a red card.
Rahimi, scorer of Al-Ain's first-leg winner, put the visitors in control with goals in the 28th and 45th minutes but Abdulrahman Ghareeb's strike five minutes into first-half added time kept Al-Nassr's hopes alive.
🎯 Precision strike from Soufiane Rahimi!— #ACL (@TheAFCCL) #ACL | #NSRvAIN pic.twitter.com/KSfpoujN5JMarch 11, 2024
Otavio's low drive was redirected into his own goal by Khaled Eisa six minutes after the restart and Alex Telles levelled the aggregate scores 18 minutes from time with a low free kick that flew through a crowd of players.
Al-Nassr's Ayman Yahya was sent off for a vicious two-footed lunge eight minutes into extra time, but Ronaldo scored from the penalty spot with two minutes remaining after the Portuguese striker was taken down in the area to take the game to a shootout.
Ronaldo was the only one of Al-Nassr's four penalty takers to successfully convert as Al-Ain advanced to the last four for the first time since 2016.
In the eastern half of the draw, South Korean sides Jeonbuk Motors and Ulsan Hyundai will meet on Tuesday night after sharing a 1-1 draw last week, while Harry Kewell's Yokohama F Marinos side will hope to defend a 2-1 lead on home soil when they face Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan on Wednesday.
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