Atletico Madrid striker Angel Correa insists he and his team-mates are mindful of the threat Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo will pose when they meet in the first-leg of their Champions League last-16 showdown at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday.
Ronaldo — who scored scored six goals in five games to almost single-handedly drag United into the knockout stages — is no stranger to the Spanish capital after spending nine years at Real Madrid.
During his time setting record after record at the La Liga giants, Ronaldo faced Atletico 31 times, scoring 22 goals and registering nine assists.
He also scored a hat-trick against Atletico in the Champions League for Juventus in 2019, so he has an outstanding record when it comes to facing Diego Simeone’s side.
Furthermore, he has faced Atletico more times in his career than any other club, racking up 35 appearances against them down the years.
Having tormented them so frequently in the past, Atletico will be focused on trying to keep him quiet this time around.
However, while Correa is fully aware of the threat the United striker will pose, he believes he and his team-mates will have to produce a “serious effort” to beat Ralf Rangnick’s side.
“We know how Cristiano is,” Correa told Marca. “He’s already done a lot of damage to us in previous times that we faced each other.
“But you can’t just look at Cristiano; you have to look at the entire team. They’re a great side and we’re going to have to make a serious effort to beat them.”
Although Ronaldo is no stranger to facing Atletico, United certainly are, having faced them just twice in their history.
You have to go back to 1991 for the last time the two sides met, with that contest coming in the European Cup Winners’ Cup. The encounter finished 1-1 and Mark Hughes was the man on target for the Reds on that occasion.
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