Ronaldo inspired Juventus to victory over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday
Cristiano Ronaldo’s hopes of winning a fourth consecutive Champions League title are still alive after the 34-year-old turned in a tie-winning performance to help Juventus see off Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg in the Spanish capital, Ronaldo scored all of Juve’s three goals in Turin, enough for the Italian champions to progress to the quarter finals.
The Portugal captain scored his first of the night inside half an hour, powering home a header at the back post after he was found by an inviting cross from Federico Bernadeschi. He levelled the scores on aggregate soon after the break with another header which goal-line technology showed had crossed the line before Jan Oblak could claw it away. Then, with four minutes of time to play, he slammed a penalty low into the bottom corner of the Atleti goal.
It was another remarkable performance from a man who still shows no signs of slowing down, despite playing for the best part of two decades at the highest level.
One of the key factors in Ronaldo’s success is, of course, his supreme self belief, something which also appears to have played a part on his heroics on Tuesday night. According to Spanish outlet Marca (via Mail Sport), Ronaldo was so confident that his side would overcome their first leg deficit that he repeatedly told his close family and friends that Juventus would be in the draw for the quarter finals. Not only that, he also told them that he would score a hat-trick in the game.
With Ronaldo’s former club Real Madrid knocked out of the competition a week earlier by Ajax and Valencia failing to progress from their group, Atleti’s loss means that if Barcelona fail to beat Lyon on Wednesday, there will be no Spanish sides in the Champions League last eight for the first time in 14 years.
