After winning by a 2-0 final in the first leg of their Champions League draw against Juventus, Atlético Madrid was feeling pretty good about their chances to advance to the competition’s quarter-finals.
That dream went up in smoke after Juventus and a masterful Cristiano Ronaldo performance led to their defeat by a 3-0 margin in Turin on Tuesday night.
Juventus, who is considered one of the top favorites to take home the Champions League title, found itself in desperate straits going into Tuesday’s game.
Manager Massimiliano Allegri made a few tactical changes to let Cristiano Ronaldo loose and shore up his team’s defense, and they made all of the difference in a dominant performance.
Cristiano Ronaldo cemented his place as possibly the greatest Champions League player in the history of the league after scoring a hat trick to lead his club to victory.
Ronaldo scored his first goal on a header in the 26th minute, which gave Juventus a halftime lead of 1-0.
After the break, he scored with his head again to even the draw and put his team up 2-0 in the game. The ball was touched by Atleti goalkeeper Jan Oblak, but the referee’s watch confirmed that the ball crossed the goal line.
Finally, Juventus sealed its win after a penalty was called against Atlético. In the 88th minute of the game, Ronaldo calmly buried a penalty kick past Oblak to put his team in the quarter-finals.
