Portugal’s talismanic forward, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Juventus triumphed over Spain’s Atletico Madrid in their UEFA Champions League second leg clash at the Allianz Stadium.
Going into the encounter after losing the first leg by 2 goals to nil, Juventus thought they had got off to the perfect start inside just four minutes when Giorgio Chiellini scored after he pounced on a loose ball at the feet of Jan Oblak but Ronaldo was adjudged to have fouled the keeper in the seconds before.
But 22 minutes later, a period which flew by in a blur of intensity and fight, Ronaldo rose highest against Atletico defenders to meet a wonderfully whipped in ball from Federico Bernardeschi to head in past Oblak and into the net.
The intensity and flurry of attacks from the Old Ladies in the first half continued into the second as they continued to pour forward in search of a second to cancel the first leg deficit.
They did have a goal awarded inside the first four minutes of the second half as Ronaldo pushed another powerful header towards Oblak, who looked to have clawed it away before goal-line technology intervened and a goal was awarded.
As the minutes ticked down towards 90 and extra time beckoned, substitute Moise Kern had a glorious chance to win it when he went one-on-one with Oblak but could not direct the bouncing ball into the net as he skewed his shot wide.
All hopes of the Spanish side to take the match into extra time faded into oblivion when Angel Correa pushed Bernardeschi in the penalty area and CR7 made no mistake from the spot.
In the other match of the night, rampaging English Premiership League (EPL) table toppers, Manchester City put seven unreplied goals past a hapless German Bundesliga side, Schalke 04, with Sergio Kun Aguero scoring a brace.
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