Cristiano Ronaldo: Man Utd star was confident he'd score hat-trick vs Atletico in 2019 | OneFootball

Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo return to Champions League action on Wednesday evening when they travel to Spain to take on Atletico Madrid.

United have had a tough campaign but they have been handed a winnable tie against an Atletico Madrid side that have been struggling themselves in recent times.

Ronaldo has haunted Atletico multiple times before and he will be looking to do so once again at Wanda Metropolitano.

The last time Ronaldo took on Atletico in the Champions League knockout stages was back in 2019.

Ronaldo’s Juventus were defeated 2-0 by Atletico in the first leg. Ronaldo was given a hostile reception and could not prevent his side falling to a defeat. Thus, The Old Lady went into the second leg as the underdogs.

But, despite the deficit, Ronaldo was very confident that he had the ability to turn the tie on its head.

According to Marca, in the build-up to the match, Ronaldo was said to have ‘repeatedly’ told friends and family that he’s score a hat-trick.

Ronaldo was confident that he’d scored the goals Juventus needed to progress and dump his old rivals Atletico out of Europe’s premier cup competition.

So, what did he do? He scored a hat-trick when the two sides met on March 12, 2019, of course.

The Portuguese scored in the 27th and 49th minute to level the tie. He then netted a 86th minute penalty to complete his hat-trick.

Juventus went on to win 3-0 and progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.

Ronaldo’s confidence in his own ability is unmatched. He’s now 37 years old and, while he isn’t the player he used to be, he remains one of the best players and the world and always seems to produce on the biggest stage.

He’s scored four hat-tricks in his career against Atletico.

It wouldn’t be a surprise whatsoever if he were to haunt Diego Simeone’s side once again on Wednesday evening.

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