CRISTIANO Ronaldo hit a hat-trick on Tuesday night as Juventus beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 at the Juventus Stadium, with Turin side progressing 3-2 on aggregate.
Amidst an electrifying atmosphere in Turin, Juventus dominated possession from the outset and looked to have taken the lead after four minutes, when Giorgio Chiellini poked in an effort after a scramble at a corner. However, Ronaldo was adjudged to have fouled Jan Oblak during the melee and Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers ruled it out.
Filippo Bernardeschi posed a constant threat and certainly vindicated Max Allegri’s decision to start Paolo Dybala on the bench. The Italian’s cross in the 27th minute was met with a characteristically athletic leap from Ronaldo for the opener.
Atleti threatened to kill the tie in the moments before half time when Alvaro Morata headed wide from a well-placed Koke cross.
However, the visitors struggled to deal with the crosses the Old Lady pumped into the box and minutes after the restart, Ronaldo scored his second with another header. Oblak appeared to have kept the effort out with a full-stretch save, but replays confirmed the ball had crossed the line.
With a little over five minutes remaining on the clock, Bernardeschi charged down the left channel and was caught by substitute Angel Correa in the box. A penalty was awarded, which Ronaldo duly converted for his hat-trick.
The Portuguese star’s header was his 25th goal against Atleti in all competitions and his eighth Champions League hat-trick. Juve progressed to their 12th Champions League quarterfinals, eliminating an Atleti team who have made at least that stage in four of the last six competitions.
In the other game of the night, Manchester City eased into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-0 drubbing of Schalke for a resounding 10-2 aggregate victory in the last 16.
City were looking to build on a 3-2 advantage they took from the first leg in Germany, fielding only one fit central defender in Aymeric Laporte.
Any nerves were settled when Sergio Aguero opened the scoring 10 minutes from the end of the first half with a chipped Panenka penalty, and three minutes later he made it two.
With victory assured, Leroy Sane slotted home a third just before half-time against his former club.
In the second half, Raheem Sterling converted a lovely cross from Sane to make it four after VAR ruled in his favour, with the video assistant regularly invoked to clear up decisions and slow down the game. Bernardo Silva then added a fifth, Phil Foden a sixth, and Gabriel Jesus scored the seventh.- Eurosport
