Anything less may not have been enough. Last month, in the Round of 16 first leg against Atletico Madrid, Juventus lost 2-0, surrendering the advantage to the Spanish team.
The Atleti defenders Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin scored a goal each and kept the rearguard tight enough to frustrate Juventus all night long. Even Ronaldo, who has thrived in the big games in Europe over the years, left the field with no goals having taken seven shots.
But Ronaldo shrugged off the criticisms and produced his best game of the season, scored either side of the half, and provided a constant attacking threat against a seemingly wilting Atletico side.
This was Ronaldo at his best. He played with pace, with attitude, and leaped high into the air to power an incredible header into the net to score the first of the night in the 27th minute of Tuesday's match.
Watch the goal right here:
He grabbed his second shortly after half-time, in the 49th minute, when another header was ruled to have gone over the line. The Juventus fans went apoplectic in the crowd as Ronaldo, their $125 million signing from last summer, the man the club brought specifically to win games just like this, single-handedly brought the team back from the brink of defeat, and was just one goal away from sneaking in a stunning victory.
That third and final goal arrived in the 86th minute when Juventus was awarded a late penalty.
Ronaldo stepped-up to the spot to take the kick and delivered, as he frequently has done over the years, making no mistake to rifle the winning goal into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. 3-0 job done.
Watch the penalty right here:
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