Ronaldo 'repeatedly told friends and family' he'd score a hat-trick v Atleti in 2019 - he then did

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.

Cristiano Ronaldo has long been a thorn in Diego Simeone's side.

Back in 2019, Juventus looked on the brink of elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid…

Then the Portuguese had his say on the tie