Champions League Round of 16 - 2018/19: 5 things that nobody expected to happen

#2 Ronaldo inspiring Juventus to make a dramatic comeback against Atleti

Cristiano Ronaldo hit a hat-trick to somehow send Juventus past Atletico Madrid

Juventus probably went into the first leg of their Round of 16 tie with Atletico Madrid as favorites; after all, the Italian giants had made the semi-finals of the competition in 2017/18, the final in 2016/17, and they’d signed Cristiano Ronaldo to bolster their chances this year. Atletico meanwhile had stuttered in the group stages, losing 4-0 to Borussia Dortmund in a stunning result.

The first leg of the tie at the Wanda Metropolitano threw the idea of Juve as favorites out of the window, though. A tremendous performance from Diego Simeone’s men ended in a 2-0 victory, and given Atletico arguably have the best defence in Europe – they’ve conceded just 17 goals all season in La Liga – it seemed like mission impossible, even for Ronaldo, to get Juventus through the tie in the second leg.

And yet the Portuguese legend pulled it off, once again making the impossible seem ordinary. Playing almost as a target man against the rock-solid central defensive partnership of Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, Ronaldo scored a pair of towering headers either side of half-time to draw the tie level. At that stage, it seemed almost inevitable that he would strike again, and sure enough, with 4 minutes on the clock, the outstanding Federico Bernardeschi was brought down in the area, and Ronaldo stepped up to dispatch the subsequent penalty.

It was Ronaldo’s 124th goal in the Champions League – his 63rd in the knockout stages – and completed his 8th hat-trick in the competition too. Nobody really comes close to his greatness in Europe at this point, and yet nobody really expected it to happen after that disastrous first leg.