Ronaldo on Course for Fourth Successive Champions League Title

Juventus host Ajax on Tuesday, April 16, aiming to book their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 125th goal in the competition put Juve ahead in the first leg, but David Neres’ fine curling effort secured a 1-1 draw for Ajax.

The winners of the tie face will either Tottenham Hotspur or Manchester City in the last four, with Spurs holding a 1-0 advantage after Tuesday’s first leg in London.

Ronaldo was playing for the Italian side for the first time since bagging a hat-trick to secure a 3-2 aggregate victory against Atletico Madrid in the last 16.

The forward suffered a thigh injury on international duty for Portugal, but he was back in time to lead Juve’s bid to reach the semi-finals.

The result leaves Juve well-placed to qualify for the last four and the club remain amongst the favourites in the Champions League betting to win this season’s tournament.

Ronaldo won the Champions League title in each of the past three seasons with Real Madrid and it would be a special achievement to do it again with his new club.

Juve would be well advised to not to take things for granted against Ajax, with the Dutch side perfectly capable of grabbing a positive result in Italy.

The Eredivisie leaders won 4-1 at Madrid in the last round and they are unbeaten away from home in this season’s competition.

Ajax stunned the 13-time European champions at the Bernabeu Stadium, with goals by Hakim Ziyech, Neres, Dusan Tadic and Lasse Schone securing a memorable victory.

Despite this, Juve will fancy their chances of progressing and keeping themselves on course to win the tournament for the first time since 1996.

The Serie A side have reached the next round from six of the previous seven European Cup/Champions League ties in which they have drawn the first leg away from home.

Juventus are unbeaten in their last 10 meetings with Ajax, the joint-longest positive record of one side against another in all European competitions alongside Bayern Munich versus Benfica.

Manager Massimiliano Allegri’s record against Ajax is a cause for concern having faced the Dutch side five times previously in the Champions League without winning.

However, Juve have lost just twice at home during the last calendar year and they are strongly fancied to join Barcelona, Man City and Liverpool in the semi-finals.