Watch the video of Cristiano Ronaldo encouraging his teammates inside the tunnel before the second half.
Juventus completed a resounding comeback at their own backyard after losing their first leg 2-0. The Old Lady’s record signing Cristiano Ronaldo was the man to change the tide of the tie with his hat-trick.
During the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo leaped over Juanfran in an exceptional fashion to head the ball and break the much-needed deadlock. Diego Simeone demanded his team to remain calm and move the ball around until the half-time whistle.
The Spanish outfit were able to achieve that foot, but they were caught by the former Real Madrid forward again. Ronaldo produced a thunderous header to beat Jan Oblak from close range. Initially, the referee decided to wait for the ball to go out, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) confirmed that the ball had crossed the line.
Caught by the spring of surprise, Atletico Madrid pushed higher up the pitch and created some chances, but the defence consisting of Giorgio Chiellini stood strong to deny any sort of approach in the final third.
The visitors lost the ball and were caught on the break. Federico Bernadeschi ran from Juventus box to the opposition penalty box with full energy by beating three to four players. The Italian International eventually got tripped by Angel Correa which was rewarded with a penalty.
Cristiano Ronaldo took the penalty and converted it from the spot to lead the game on aggregate for the first time in the tie.
CRISTIANO RONALDO ENCOURAGING HIS TEAMMATES:
It looks like it was a Cristiano Ronaldo inspired performance from the Old Lady. The Juventus forward was filmed encouraging his teammates before the second half to take the game to opponents half.
There is no doubt Cristiano Ronaldo is a leader in the dressing room and he has proved that yet again by standing up above the rest to inspire his teammates. With that hat-trick, he has equaled Lionel Messi’s record with eight in the Champions League and has the most number of hat-tricks in the history of football with 52.
The likes of Federico Bernadeschi, Emre Can, and Giorgio Chiellini also had great games to cross a massive hurdle by overcoming a side who are a commonly very tough nut to crack.
Cristiano Ronaldo applauded the whole side and said that it was the mentality to be champions.
“It was always going to be a special night: and it was, not only for the goals, but for the team. This is the mentality of champions, this is the journey to follow: we enjoyed a magical night. Atletico were a difficult team, but we were strong too. We will see what will happen…” Ronaldo said in the post-match interview following his hat-trick.
Massimiliano Allegri was in full praise of all the players after this phenomenal display “The boys read the game in the best possible way – underlined the tactician – playing at a high tempo and exploiting the width of the pitch. I wanted to us play like that also in the first leg, but then I changed something and it didn’t go the right way.
“This evening, on the other hand, it was a fluid, cool and calm performance. We had been waiting for this evening for a long time and we risked having a frenetic game, instead we had to pressure them, whilst also keeping a balance and we did it.” said Allegri in the post-match interview.
Juventus have been joined by Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Ajax, Porto, and Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League Quarterfinals. The draw for the last eight will take place on Friday.
The Old Lady are yet to get their hands on the trophy since 1996. Can Cristiano Ronaldo inspire his side to lift the trophy in Madrid this may?
