Ronaldo hat-trick sends Juventus through
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first hattrick for Juventus to send the club into the Champions League quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid yesterday as the Italian side fought back from a two-goal first-leg defeat.
Ronaldo netted from open play in each half and then converted a late penalty as Juventus advanced 3-2 on aggregate, ending Atletico’s hopes of reaching the final at their Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
It was Ronaldo’s eighth hat-trick in the competition, moving him level with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and demonstrating why Juventus paid Real Madrid €112 million (NZ$184.2 million) for the Portugal star who has dominated the competition in recent years.
Ronaldo is looking for a fourth straight Champions League title, while Madrid were eliminated without him by Ajax last week.
‘‘Maybe that’s why Juventus signed me,’’ Ronaldo said. ‘‘To help it do things that it had never done before. This result is a great push for the future.’’
Manchester City are also through to the final eight after routing Schalke 7-0 to progress 10-2 on aggregate.
Sergio Aguero kicked off proceedings with two goals inside four minutes midway through the first half before Leroy Sane, Raheem Sterling, Bernado Silva, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus added to the onslaught.
The 7-0 rout tied the record for the biggest win the last 16.