Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone will be vary of the threat provided by Ronaldo when the two side meet again on Wednesday. Simeone admitted that Ronaldo is an amazing player but refused to keep his focus only on Ronaldo.
Juventus are set to face Atletico Madrid in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday at the Juventus Stadium in Turin. All eyes will be firmly focused on Cristiano Ronaldo as he makes an appearance against a team that he has tormented in the past. Ronaldo scored a hat-trick last year against Atletico to boot them out of the Champions League.
Ronaldo has scored 25 goals in all competitions against Atletico and will look to add to that tally.
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone will be vary of the threat provided by Ronaldo when the two side meet again on Wednesday. Simeone admitted that Ronaldo is an amazing player but refused to keep his focus only on Ronaldo.
“He always played really well against us. He is the number one, an amazing player. He always knows how to create problems for his opponents,” Goal.com quoted Simeone as saying.
“But I don’t think it will be just Ronaldo against Atletico Madrid,” he added.
“We are here looking forward to playing in this amazing stadium. And we want to play a great game. It will be a great game against a very strong and demanding team,” he said.
Ronaldo recently created a controversy when he was quite visibly upset after twice being substituted early by Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri during their Serie A matches and the Portuguese superstar said that although he has not been ‘100 percent’ for quite some time now, he is willing to sacrifice himself for his country.
“I wasn’t 100 percent and I’m still not,” he said after the match. “In the last three weeks, I have played at a slightly reduced capacity. But when it comes to sacrificing myself for my club and my national team, I do it with pride.”
Earlier, Sarri said that Ronaldo was suffering from a ‘little knee problem’ after he was replaced early during Juventus’ game against AC Milan. Ronaldo reportedly left the Allian Arena Stadium three minutes before the final whistle, Sky Italia reported. It was the second match in a week that the Portuguese forward was substituted, and it seems he let his frustration known to the team over the same. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo looked glum as he came off and directed some words at coach Maurizio Sarri before heading to the changing rooms.
“I do not like to get replaced, nobody does,” added Ronaldo. “I attempted to assist Juve even when injured.”
