Cristiano Ronaldo produced another magical UEFA Champions League display, as he rescued Juventus from an early elimination from the competition, as he scored a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid, beating them 3-0 at home, after the Spanish giants had won the first leg 2-0.
The Portuguese has stolen the headlines over the last few years when it comes to the Champions League, being the sole mane to rely on when the goings get tough. His experience in the competition will be of great aid to Juventus, as the Italian giants seek to win their first ever Champions League title since 1995/96. Ronaldo has won the competition on five occasions throughout his career, once with Manchester United, and four times with his previous club, Real Madrid.
His performance on Tuesday broke several records, as well as creating some really eye-catching statistics. His deciding penalty completed his eighth Champions League hat-trick, a stat that draws him level with his competitor, Lionel Messi, as the player to have completed the most hat-tricks in the whole competition.
Apart from this, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a total of 124 Champions League goals in his career, a magnificent stat. To put this into perspective, Juventus' opponents last night, Atletico Madrid, have scored 118 goals throughout their history in the competition.
However, whilst Ronaldo seems to have carried Juventus to the Quarter Final, according to his past Champions League campaigns, he is still underperforming. His current tally in the competition for this season stands at four goals, but in the past nine seasons, he has managed to outscore that tally, with 2008/09 being the last time that he scored only four goals. Between that season and this season, he has scored numerous goals, with his most prolific season being 2013/14, when he helped Real Madrid win 'La Decima', by scoring 17 goals, an outrageous number considering that it was done in 11 matches.
What is also remarkable is that more than a fifth of Ronaldo's goals have come between the 76th and 90th minutes of play, including injury time, as he has scored 26 goals during that time.
On the other hand, Lionel Messi will be looking to prove that he is the world's best, as Barcelona face Olympique Lyon on Wednesday night. Can Messi outshine Ronaldo this week?
