‘Want to face Real Madrid in Champions League final,’ says Ronaldo

Juventus' Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo reacts at the end of the UEFA Champions League Group D football match Juventus Turin vs Atletico Madrid on November 26, 2019 at the Juventus Allianz stadium in Turin. (Photo by Marco Bertorello / AFP)


Juventus star striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who is a former Real Madrid player, expressed his desire to face Los Blancos in the final of the 2019-20 Champions League.

The Portuguese scored on Wednesday night as Juventus made a clinical 2-0 finish in a match against Bayer Leverkusen before heading towards the knockout stages of the ongoing Champions League.

When asked about the possibility of meeting his former club Real Madrid in the round of 16, Ronaldo said he would rather face them later.

“In the final? I would sign up now to meet them in the final,” Sky Sport Italia quoted Ronaldo as saying.

Talking about Juventus, who remained unbeaten in Group D, Ronaldo said, “The team is doing well, we played very well in the second half (against Leverkusen), we are first in the group, things improved for me too, I have more confidence. I hope to continue like this.”

Juve’s most recent outing saw Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala all on the pitch at the same time.

However, Maurizio Sarri has opted not to play the three together for much of the ongoing campaign, but Ronaldo says he enjoys working with the two Argentine stars.

“Whether I play with Dybala or Higuain it is great,” said Ronaldo, adding, “I like playing with both of them, we have a lot of fun on the pitch, but the coach is the one who makes the decisions and we must respect them.

“But I can’t deny that we have a lot of fun.”

Talking about his injuries, the 34-year-old said that he was playing with a little pain, but now he is good now.

Ronaldo and Higuain stole the show on Wednesday night as Juventus thrashed a well-organised Bayer at the BayArena.

The first saw both the teams sharing a goalless scoreline as the players failed to convert the half chances. However, the second half witnessed a dominating Juventus.