Cristiano Ronaldo: Champions League knockout king again
Juventus forward scored a hat-trick to eliminate Atletico Madrid
Wednesday 13 March 2019 12:49, UK
Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick against Atletico Madrid shows why he is the Champions League knockout king.
Ronaldo scored all three goals in Juventus' 3-0 win in Turin as they became only fourth team in Champions League history to progress after losing 2-0 in the first leg.
It was a sweet moment for the 34-year-old as he once again put one over on his old rivals from the Spanish capital.
As well as helping Juventus into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Ronaldo made another piece of history.
After scoring with two headers, he converted a late penalty to complete his hat-trick - the eighth of his Champions League career. That moves him level with Lionel Messi.
When it comes to goals in the knockout stages of the Champions League, however, even Messi cannot come close to the Portuguese player.
He has now scored an amazing 63 goals at this stage of Europe's premier club competition.
Messi is his closest rival with 40 goals and former Real Madrid hero Raul got 34 but Ronaldo now has three times as many goals as the next players on the list.
Thanks to his efforts against Atletico, he will have the chance to add to them very soon.
Ronaldo's verdict: This is why they signed me
"This was why Juventus brought me here, to help do things that they have never done before. This is the mentality you need to win in the Champions League.
"I just do my work and I'm very happy tonight, it was a magical night. Atletico are always difficult to face, but we are also strong and we proved it.
"We wanted a special night and it was just that - not only for my goals, but for the entire team. This is the right mentality to play in the Champions League, so we must be proud."
