TURIN, Italy (AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo scored a spectacular hat-trick to fire Juventus into the Champions League quarterfinals with a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday that saw his side claim a thrilling tie 3-2 on aggregate.
The Portuguese superstar scored two headers either side of half-time and a late penalty to clinch a place in Friday’s last-eight draw with a dominant display by the Italian champions in Turin.
“It was always going to be a special night and it was, not only for the goals, but for the team,” said Ronaldo. “This is the mentality of champions. This is why Juve brought me in, to help on magical nights like this.”
Diego Simeone’s Atletico was a shadow of the team who had run riot in the first leg in Madrid, and crashed out of the tournament they had been hoping to win in their own Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on June 1.
It is the eighth time that Ronaldo has scored a hat-trick in the competition and mirrors his improbable triple which lifted former club Real Madrid past Wolfsburg in April 2016 with the Spaniards 2-0 down after the first leg.
MANCHESTER ADVANCES
In United Kingdom, Manchester City powered into the quarters as Sergio Aguero’s double paved the way for a 7-0 rout of hapless Schalke in the last 16 second leg.
City had snatched two late goals to win the first leg 3-2 and they made the most of that fightback with a ruthless demolition job at the Etihad Stadium to clinch a 10-2 aggregate victory.
Aguero’s penalty opened the scoring at and the Argentine forward netted again before Leroy Sane, who also contributed three assists, struck against his former club.
Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus all scored after the interval to complete City’s biggest home win in the Champions League.
