Having so far scored in every Champions League outing this season, Cristiano Ronaldo will look to continue the streak on Wednesday as Manchester United visit Atletico Madrid.
Bookmaker William Hill has the odds at 2.70 for Ronaldo to notch a goal anytime. The odds are at 13.00 for the Portuguese ace to get at least two goals and at 91.00 for him to score his 59th career hat trick.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: February 22nd, 5:30 P.M. (EST)
Ronaldo recently went through a six-game goal drought, which was his worst goalless spell since 2009, but the five-time Ballon d’Or winner always seems to relish the European stage and he’s caused plenty of trouble for Atletico through the years scoring 25 goals against them in 35 matches. He’s scored more goals only against Sevilla (27) in his career.
United topped their group and didn’t have anything to play for in the final round of fixtures, but Ronaldo almost single-handedly carried the team to the knockout stages with his work including a couple of stoppage-time winners. With him on your side, the chances of winning a football match are always pretty good, but United definitely have to improve if they want to make a deep run in Europe.
One of the key points that needs improving is the ability to hold on to leads. Ralf Rangnick has been at the helm for 15 games and United have scored the opening goal 13 times during his time but there have been just eight victories.
Atletico manager Diego Simeone has plenty of areas to work on as well with his team going through a very inconsistent season. Los Colchoneros have flipped between wins and losses for over a month.
With goalkeeper Jan Oblak struggling for form, Atletico have lost the ability to keep clean sheets regularly, which has been their biggest strength for a number of years. To add insult to injury, their attack has been inconsistent as well of late.
Simeone’s men beat Osasuna easily 3-0 on Saturday but they were shut out by bottom dwellers Levante at home in their previous game. Following a 21-goal campaign, Luis Suarez has netted just nine league goals this term and other forwards are also struggling to score on a regular basis.
The hosts will certainly need to find their scoring boots on Wednesday because Ronaldo rarely has off nights in the Champions League and he’s scored in nine of his last 11 European appearances.
