UCL preview: CR7 looks to pile more woe on Atletico

No competition makes Cristiano Ronaldo come more alive than the Champions League. And no team makes Ronaldo come more alive than Atletico Madrid.

So Diego Simeone and his players could be forgiven for feeling a certain amount of trepidation when Ronaldo arrives at the Wanda Metropolitano for Wednesday’s last-16 match between Atletico and Manchester United

From 2014-19, when Ronaldo played for Real Madrid and then Juventus, he was part of teams that ended Atletico’s Champions League title ambitions in five of the six seasons.

Ronaldo scored hat tricks for Real (in 2017) and Juventus (in 2019) against Atletico, and converted the clinching penalty in the shootout between the Madrid rivals in the 2016 final.

Don’t forget, either, his muscle-flexing celebrations after his late penalty in extra time of the 2014 final between the teams that killed off Atletico.

Wednesday’s game will be the first time Ronaldo and Atletico have crossed paths since November 2019. Since then, Ronaldo has pulled clear as the all-time leading scorer in Champions League history with 140

Starting four games in 12 days isn’t ideal for Ronaldo, even if his sharpness and fitness levels are staggering for a player his age. Don’t expect him to be out of the team on Wednesday, though.