Cristiano Ronaldo scored a stunning overhead kick for his second goal of the night to help Real Madrid beat 10-man Juventus 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday.
TURIN, Italy (AP) – Cristiano Ronaldo scored a stunning overhead kick for his second goal of the night to help Real Madrid beat 10-man Juventus 3-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday.
Ronaldo’s first goal came in the third minute and was helped by Juve’s defensive lapses, but his second was pure mastery and his overhead kick had the entire stadium on their feet in appreciation.
In the process, Ronaldo became the first player in Champions League history to score in 10 successive matches.
„Cristiano is simply a different player than all the others,“ Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. „He shows that every time. He always has a great desire to do great things in the Champions League, he never gets tired of doing what he does.“
The Portugal international also set up Madrid’s third, for Marcelo, shortly after Juventus forward Paulo Dybala had been sent off following a second yellow card.
The Italian side now has a near-impossible task to turn the quarterfinal around against the two-time defending champions in the return leg on April 11.
„You never know in football,“ Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said. „We have to prepare it in the best way possible because it’s a quarterfinal and everyone will be watching us.“
Sevilla also lost at home in the night’s other quarterfinal, as Bayern Munich came from behind to win 2-1. Jesus Navas‘ own goal cancelled out Pablo Sarabia’s opener and Thiago Alcantara headed in the winner for Bayern in the 68th minute.
In Turin, Juventus was out for revenge after losing the final 4-1 to Madrid last year. But Ronaldo once again came out on top.
The Portuguese forward has scored in every Champions League match this season and it took him less than three minutes to continue that tradition, thanks in part to a series of uncharacteristic defensive mistakes from Juventus.
Isco was left in acres of space on the left flank and he crossed in for an unmarked Ronaldo to poke the ball into the right side of the net.
Juventus responded well and could have leveled immediately but Sergio Ramos put in a perfectly-timed tackle just as Paulo Dybala was about to unleash a shot.
Ramos was on hand again in the 13th minute to head Rodrigo Bentacur’s effort away near the goalline.
Juventus – and most of the stadium – thought it had equalized midway through the half but Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas pulled off a stunning save to deny Gonzalo Higuain after Dybala whipped in a free kick from the left.
Having got the away goal, Real Madrid was seemingly content to sit back and hit Juventus on the counter and the Spanish side almost doubled its lead 10 minutes from the break when Toni Kroos‘ fierce effort crashed off the crossbar from 25 yards.
Juventus had two penalty appeals waved away on the stroke of halftime as referee Cuneyt Cakir ruled that Casemiro’s handball was not deliberate and moments later adjudged that the same player had not fouled Dybala and instead booked the Argentina international for simulation.
Both sides continued to have chances after the break. Ronaldo’s angled drive flashed just past the left post, while Dybala’s free kick was deflected narrowly over the bar with Navas wrong-footed.
Ramos was booked for the challenge that led to that free kick and will be suspended for the second leg.
The match changed shortly after the hour mark.
Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a fantastic save to deny Lucas Vazquez but the move continued and Ronaldo leaped acrobatically into the air with his back to goal and smashed the ball into the bottom right corner.
The goal was so good that even the Juventus fans rose to applaud – having jeered his every touch previously.
They were still on their feet moments later when Dybala was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Dani Carvajal.
Ronaldo turned provider in the 73rd minute as he played a one-two with Marcelo before the Brazil defender lifted the ball over Buffon and bundled it into the back of the net.
It could have been worse for Juventus as Ronaldo missed several chances to complete his hat trick, while Mateo Kovacic hit the bar late on.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
