Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo will come up against his former city rivals Atletico Madrid when his team hosts the Spanish side at the Old Lady in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
The Italian giants will need to overturn a 2-0 deficit in order to progress to the quarter-final stages. Of course, things will be complicated should Atletico score an away goal, but Juventus have a dangerous weapon in Ronaldo when they face the Spanish side. The Portugal international faced the Spanish side 31 times when he was a Real Madrid player, and his record against his former city rivals is impressive.
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All eyes will be on Ronaldo when he faces them with Juventus this week – but what exactly is his record against Atletico, how many goals has he scored against them and how many times has he won? Goal takes a look.
What is Ronaldo's record vs Atletico?
The Serie A defending champions were left stunned during their first leg visit to the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in late February when they were handed a 2-0 defeat.
Diego Simeone's side struck twice on home turf through the likes of Jose Giminez and Diego Godin, and Juventus face an uphill battle on Tuesday evening. They will need to count on the likes of Ronaldo to see off the Spanish side, but they couldn't be better equipped for the task.
Ronaldo boasts an impressive record against Atletico as a Real Madrid player. During his time at the Bernabeu, he has faced his former side's city rivals a total of 31 times across all competitions in Spain, winning on 14 occasions and drawing nine times.
"The team is confident of playing a great game and I am too," Ronaldo said in anticipation of the sides' Champions League clash. "We are ready to experience a special night, both on the field and in the stands.
"Everyone knows that they are a strong team, they defend very well, they don't take a lot of risks and they play on the counter-attack, but we are ready, and we will do everything we can to beat them.
"Football is like this, we didn't expect to lose the first leg 2-0, but anything can happen, and we want to give a great response in our home, in front of our fans."
Though the forward has gotten his Juventus career to a solid start in Serie A, having scored 19 league goals by early March, he has struggled to find the back of the net in the Champions League – something uncharacteristic of him.
| Games played | |
|---|---|
| Real Madrid wins | 14 |
| Draw | 9 |
| Atletico Madrid wins | 8 |
| TOTAL | 31 |
How many goals has Cristiano Ronaldo scored against Atletico?
The Portugal international has scored more goals only against Sevilla (27) and Getafe (23) than he has against Atletico (22). He has also scored 10 goals away at Atletico Madrid and has only scored more away goals against Sevilla and Barcelona (12 each).
Moreover, Ronaldo has also scored more penalties against Atletico Madrid than he has against any other side, scoring all eight of his spot kicks against them for a 100 per cent success rate.
| Competition* | Goals |
|---|---|
| La Liga | 12 |
| Champions League | 4 |
| Copa del Rey | 6 |
*While at Real Madrid only. Accurate as of March 11, 2019.
