4 tactics used by Atletico Madrid to stop Cristiano Ronaldo | Champions League 2018/19

#2 Restricting him to shots from outside the box

Ronaldo could test Oblak only once with his long rangers

Cristiano Ronaldo’s finishing ability is among the best in the world. While he is brilliant at beating his marker and running past his man, it is the work that he does in the box that defines him best.

Since joining Juventus in the Serie A, the Portuguese had continued his fabulous goalscoring form in Italy as well. And his record in the Champions League in the last few years has been massive too. As such, Simeone knew it very well that to stop Juventus, he had to stop Cristiano Ronaldo from scoring.

The Argentinean coach used all his years of experience on the night and utilized the knowledge gained from watching the Portuguese play in Spain. He restricted Ronaldo to attempting shots from outside the box, he allowed his players to give away free kicks, but he denied the Portuguese any space and time inside the box.

Ronaldo was not allowed to enter the box and get into important positions. In the entire first half, he had been allowed inside on just 2 occasions.

Even in the second half, and until the last moment of the game, the Portuguese hardly found himself clear on goal and had to be content with shooting from distance. As such, he was largely ineffective.