Cristiano Ronaldo reacts to sensational his hat-trick against Atletico Madrid in Champions League

What’s the story?

Cristiano Ronaldo has reacted to his performance which helped Juventus overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit to progress to the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League, after beating Atletico Madrid 3-0 at home.

In case you didn’t know…

Ronaldo was in superb form as he scored thrice to lead Juventus to a massive victory at the Allianz Stadium. The Portuguese opened the scoring in the 27th minute with a powerful header, before levelling the tie on aggregate four minutes after the restart – with another thumping header.

The 34-year-old completed his hat-trick in the dying embers of the game by expertly converting a penalty past Jan Oblak.

The Juventus star has so far received praise from football pundits and fans alike, following his latest masterclass in the Champions League.

Per the stats, Ronaldo has now scored 124 goals in Europe’s premier competition – 18 more than his nearest challenger Lionel Messi.

The heart of the matter

In the aftermath of the match, Ronaldo assessed the game and gave his verdict on Juventus’ massive comeback, which he personally spearheaded.

The Portuguese described the night as “special” and “magical”, adding that performances like these are the reason why Juve signed him.

Ronaldo told Sky Sports Italia, as quoted by Goal:

“It had to be a really special night and it was.

“If we continue like this, we have not won yet but we have reasons to be proud and we are on the right way.

“That's why Juve signed me and I tried to do my best job.

“It's a magical night. It was a very difficult team to play but we showed that we were a very big team. We proceed step by step, we will see.”

What’s next?

Ronaldo and Juventus will now turn attention back to the Serie A, where they face Genoa on Saturday.