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Ronaldo wants to face Real  in Champs League final

Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo would welcome the opportunity to take in a reunion with Real Madrid in the final of the 2019-20 Champions League.

The Portuguese spent nine memorable years at the Santiago Bernabeu before heading to Turin in the summer of 2018.

There is a chance that he could line up against familiar faces in the last 16 of this season’s Champions League, with Real having finished as runners-up in Group A behind Paris Saint-Germain.

Ronaldo helped Juve to the top of their standings and is now waiting to discover who the Bianconeri will be paired with in the first knockout round.

He would prefer to avoid Madrid, but admits that the chance to face the Blancos at some stage in major European competition would appeal to him.

Ronaldo told Sky Sport Italia: “Real are an extraordinary team, but if you ask me, I’d rather face them later.

“In the final? I would sign up now to meet them in the final.”

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is doing his best to try and end Juventus’ long wait for continental glory. He was back among the goals against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday and claims to be free of the injury issues which held him back in November and led to enforced breaks being taken in.

Ronaldo added: “I feel good, the physical problems I had have passed.  It was four weeks that I was playing with a little pain, but now I’m fine.

“The team is doing well, we played very well in the second half [against Leverkusen], we are first in the group, things improved for me too, I have more confidence. I hope to continue like this.”

Juve ended their most recent outing with Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala all on the pitch at the same time. Maurizio Sarri has opted against playing three fearsome frontmen together for much of the current campaign, but Ronaldo claims to enjoy working with two talented Argentine stars.

He said: “Whether I play with Dybala or Higuain it is great. I like playing with both of them, we have a lot of fun on the pitch, but the coach is the one who makes the decisions and we must respect them.

“But I can’t deny that we have a lot of fun.” – AFP

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