Cristiano Ronaldo has equalled Lionel Messi’s hat-trick record in the UEFA Champions League, UCL, after a heroic performance for Juventus on Tuesday night.
Before their second leg round of 16 tie against Atletico Madrid in Turin, Messi had the most hat-tricks in the history of the competition, eight (8), compared to Ronaldo’s seven (7).
However, a vintage display from the former Real Madrid star saw him net three times to help Juventus book their place in the last eight of the UCL in remarkable fashion.
With Atletico leading 2-0 after the first leg in Spain, two headed goals in the first half and a late penalty from Ronaldo completed an incredible comeback for the Italian champions who advanced to the quarterfinal with a 3-2 aggregate victory.
The goals took Ronaldo’s hat-trick tally in the competition to eight (8), equalling his long time rival, Barcelona’s Messi, who still has a chance to pull ahead again when he leads his side out at Camp Nou later on Wednesday against Lyon in their second leg round of 16 match.
Seven (7) of Ronaldo’s total were scored during his time at Real Madrid, while last night’s effort against Atletico was his first for Juventus.
Records from UEFA show that there have been 118 hat-tricks scored in the competition so far with Ronaldo and Messi comfortably ahead of others.
Only the trio of retired AC Milan forward, Filippo Inzaghi, Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich) and Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk) are the pair’s closest challengers having scored three (hat-tricks) each.
