Cristiano Ronaldo and His History of Torturing Atlético Madrid

Ronaldo has made a habit of scoring against a lot of teams, but no club has felt the wrath quite like his next opponent in the Champions League.

Most opposing teams are used to the feeling of dread when lining up across from Cristiano Ronaldo in Champions League—and they have reason to. After all, the Portuguese superstar is the all-time leading scorer in Champions League history with 140 goals to go with his five Champions League titles and five Balon d'Or trophies.

But dread may not come close to describing what Atlético Madrid fans must feel.

Whether it has been Real Madrid or Juventus, Ronaldo's team has eliminated Atlético from five of its last seven Champions League knockout stage appearances. And starting Wednesday in the first leg of the round of 16 with Manchester United, Ronaldo has the chance to make it six in the last eight. 

His stats against Atlético are staggering: 25 goals in 35 career games, four hat tricks and—the biggest dagger of them all—two wins in a Champions League final while playing for crosstown rival Real. 

“He is a monster, an extraordinary footballer and he has been instrumental wherever he has been,” Atlético Madrid manager Diego Simeone told Spanish outlet AS on Tuesday. “Obviously he has done us a lot of damage whenever he has played against us. He has a team around him that is very good—United is a historic world soccer power.”

Simeone is an adversary who knows Ronaldo all too well. Until the 2020 season, El Cholo had only been eliminated from the Champions League knockouts by a team that contained Ronaldo. 

The forward scored a penalty in extra time of the 2014 Champions League final and converted the winning penalty kick during a shootout in the 2016 final. 

And then there were the first-leg 2-1 deficits against Los Colchoneros that Ronaldo singlehandedly turned around with hat tricks in 2017 and 2019. 

At 37 years old, Ronaldo may be slowing down, evidenced by his current form (one goal in his last eight games), but it's all relative. Ronaldo has scored in each one of his Champions League group stage appearances this season.

And then there's his history against Atlético, which would be foolish to write Ronaldo off considering the previous damage he has inflicted.