Andrea Comas/Associated Press Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has warned Juventus have more threats than only Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of Tuesday's decisive UEFA Champions League round-of-16 clash in Turin. Los Rojiblancos won 2-0 in the first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano, and Simeone told reporters his players have more than just the former Real Madrid ace to be concerned with: "Juve is not just Ronaldo, he has many champions with very experienced men. They have great quality ahead, (Federico) Bernardeschi, (Paulo) Dybala, Douglas (Costa), who can accompany (Mario) Mandzukic and Ronaldo, they all deserve our attention," Simeone said. Central defenders Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez each scored in Madrid last month to give Atletico a two-goal cushion travelling to the Allianz Stadium. Ronaldo, 34, failed to get on the scoresheet back at the Wanda Metropolitano, but he stoked the flames between him and his old rivals despite Juve's first-leg defeat, via the Guardian: The former Real star has faced Atleti 32 times in his career, per Transfermarkt, losing nine times and winning on 15 occasions. He's scored 22 goals in that span, only managing to score more against Sevilla (27) and Getafe (23) in his career. Videos you might like Ronaldo sat down with Juventus TV in the buildup to Tuesday's second leg and said a comeback is possible, urging the fans to do their part in inspiring the Bianconeri to qualification: The veteran is Juventus' top scorer in all competitions with 21 goals, but only one of those has come in the Champions League. The last time Ronaldo failed to feature in the last eight of the Champions League was in 2009-10, the season he joined Real Madrid from Manchester United. Paulo Dybala has five goals in six appearances in the competition, while Miralem Pjanic has two and Mario Mandzukic also has one—in contrast, Atletico have scored via six players so far in the tournament. Massimiliano Allegri rested Ronaldo for Friday's 4-1 Serie A win over Udinese, and sportswriter Adam Digby highlighted he wasn't the only first-string star missing: Dybala—who isn't certain to start on Tuesday—appeared motivated to add to his team-high haul: Ronaldo has failed to find the back of the net in his last three appearances for Juventus, and keeping the Portuguese quiet won't hurt Simeone's chances of progressing to the quarter-finals.<doc-sep>The Atletico manager refused to criticise the former Real Madrid forward after his hat-trick overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit, which led to the Portuguese grabbing his crotch area to mimic Simeone’s celebration after the opening game. Champions League When is the Champions League draw and how can I watch? 18/03/2021 AT 19:00 "He will have seen how I did it at the Wanda Metropolitano and, like me, was trying to show his character," said Simeone. Cristiano Ronaldo is the best in the world, he can put in these performances on big nights. Simeone was fined £17,000 and charged by UEFA for his outburst following the first leg. It remains to be seen if Ronaldo will be punished. Champions League Spanish press laments 'historic humiliation' after Barcelona's Champions League disaster 15/08/2020 AT 10:19<doc-sep>Simeone: If the fans need to criticise someone, it should be me Atletico Madrid Crashed out of the Champions League at the hands of Juventus Cristiano Ronaldo broke the hearts of Atletico Madrid supporters yet again on Tuesday evening, and Diego Simeone has admitted that if fans need someone to criticise after the defeat, it should be him. Despite holding a 2-0 advantage from the first leg, Atleti were meek in their surrender in Turin, despite having gone on an unprecedented recruitment drive in the summer. "If the fans need to criticise someone, it should be me," Simeone explained in his pre-match press conference. "I'm the leader of this team. I'm responsible for everything." The criticism of the Argentine coach following Tuesday's defeat was perhaps one of the first times his methods have truly been questioned since he arrived back in the Spanish capital. His leadership has seen Atleti rise up to European football's elite despite a sizable disadvantage in financial terms, however Simeone believes every match is a test of his credentials. "I feel challenged in every single game," Simeone confirmed. "Every time your team plays, a coach is exposed. "He has to demonstrate his worth on a daily basis, not simply point towards times when he's already shown it." A well-publicised disagreement between Stefan Savic and Atletico Madrid's fitness coach, Oscar Ortega, has brought a disappointing week to an unsavoury end. The coach's intense training session held the day before the Juventus clash has proven divisive, especially for the Montenegrin defender who then suffered an injury in the warm-up at the Allianz Stadium. Simeone, in his role as peacemaker, was quick to point out that these minor disagreements are part and parcel of football, and it's only the media which makes them appear far more important. "This club is like a family, if there are things to be solved then it's done inside the club," Simeone added. "Defeat is normal in sport, and these situations happen all the time, but people only seek to use them to destabilise after a defeat. "After the Europa League final there were three players who didn't even speak to me, yet you didn't comment about it, or even know about it, because we won the match."<doc-sep>Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone was not surprised with the outcome of the Champions League ties involving Manchester United and Real Madrid earlier this week. In his pre-match press conference ahead of the Spanish La Liga game with Leganes at home on Saturday, Diego Simeone told reporters that there’s a lot of competition in the Champions League this season. He further added that the teams have improved and that played a major role in the results recorded in the Champions League on Tuesday and Wednesday. When asked about their last 16-second leg clash with Italian champions Juventus, Diego Simeone said that the focus is on the league game against Leganes. Atletico Madrid are in the driving seat after they won the first leg 2-0 at home and favourites Juventus have a lot of work to do to overturn that deficit when both teams meet again for the second leg scheduled for the Juventus Stadium on Tuesday night. Champions League holders Real Madrid were stunned on Tuesday night following the 4-1 thrashing they received at home against Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam who triumphed 5-3 on aggregate. On Wednesday night, Manchester United overturned a 2-0 deficit from their home leg to beat French champions Paris Saint Germain (PSG) 3-1 at the Parc des Princes. The result was enough to take Manchester United to the quarters on away goals.<doc-sep>
Ronaldo taunts Simeone after Juventus hat-trick heroics The Juve star couldn't help but recall one of the more memorable moments from the teams' first leg in Madrid on February 20 Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't help but get a jab in at Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone following the Juventus star's sensational hat-trick on Tuesday. Ronaldo scored three times to help Juve to a 3-0 win on the night, reaching the Champions League quarter-finals after a memorable comeback. Atletico won the first leg 2-0 on February 20, a game in which Simeone punctuated his side's opening goal with a gesture that UEFA deemed to have crossed the line. The European governing body fined Simeone €20,000 for his celebration last week, with the Argentine having previously explained the gesture was directed at Atletico fans to show them that the team "have cojones". Nevertheless, Ronaldo couldn't help but perform the same celebration after his heroics on Tuesday night in Turin. Simeone noticed Ronaldo's celebration and rather than get upset, the Atletico boss said he believed the Juve star had similar reasons for the gesture. "I'm sure Cristiano made the gesture with the same intention I did, with his people," the Argentine said in his post-game press conference. The former Real Madrid man continued his fantastic scoring form against his old club's city rivals, having now scored 25 goals in 33 career appearances against Atletico. Only Sevilla have conceded more times against Ronaldo, with the 34-year-old having scored 27 career goals against the Andalusian side. In fact, Ronaldo has netted more goals himself (124) in the Champions League than Atletico Madrid have scored as a team in the competition (118). It was another record-setting night in the competition for Ronaldo, as the Juve star matched Lionel Messi for most career Champions League hat-tricks with his eighth treble. Ronaldo got off to a slow start to the competition this season, scoring just one goal in five group-stage matches. But the Portugal star has once again found his groove in the competition's knockout stages. Article continues below Overall, Ronaldo has been directly involved in 77 goals in 77 career Champions League knockout appearances (63 goals, 14 assists). And he will get the chance to extend that record in the quarter-finals, where Juve will be joined by Ronaldo’s former club Manchester United, Manchester City, Porto, Ajax and Tottenham. Bayern Munich host Liverpool and Barcelona host Lyon on Wednesday in the second leg of two ties that are finely poised at 0-0.