Cristiano Ronaldo plundered his eighth UEFA Champions League hat-trick which helped Juventus claim a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid, putting his side into the Champions League quarter-finals.
Ronaldo’s side claimed a thrilling tie 3-2 on aggregate as the Portuguese footballer scored two headers either side of half-time and a late penalty to seal a place in Friday’s last-eight draw with a dominant performance by the Italian champions in Turin, on Tuesday.
Juventus have progressed in a Champions League knockout match having lost the first leg (2-0) for the first time since 2005-2006 vs SV Werder Bremen.
The Champions League’s record scorer took his tally in the tournament to 124, with four goals this season.
Atletico Madrid are the fourth team in the Champions League History to win the first leg of a knockout game at home by a 2-0 scoreline but fail to progress to the next round. They also failed to land a shot on target in a Champions League game for the first time since December 2008 vs Marseille.
Juventus signed the 34-year-old Ronaldo last summer from Real Madrid for 100 million euros ($117 million) in order to make the difference on the continent for the Italian champions, who have not won the Champions League since 1996 and have finished runners-up twice in the past four season.
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And five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo pulled out a spectacular performance as he spearheaded the attack along with Federico Bernardeschi and Mario Mandzukic.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side came out firing, dominating the first half with nine shots on goal compared to three for the Spaniards.
With his goals coming in at the 27th minute, 49th minute and 86th minute where Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot to score his 25th goal against Atletico to spark pandemonium among the home crowd, the former Real Madrid player scored his eighth hat-trick in the Champions League, pulling him level with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and sparking off Messi-Ronaldo debates and comparisions.