Ronaldo starred in the 3-0 win over Atletico in Turin that reversed a 2-0 first-leg deficit to see Juventus into the quarter-finals.
The striker joined Juve from Real Madrid in a £105m deal last summer with the express aim of delivering the Italian giants European football’s greatest honour.
Ronaldo was the star of the night in Turin yesterday as his three goals secured Juve safe progression to the last-eight.
The Portugal international scored two headers before converting a penalty late on.
But it was his inspirational acts during half time that may have proved the biggest influence on his team-mates last night.
Juve were 1-0 up at the break but 2-1 down on aggregate when Cristiano Ronaldo and the squad headed back out to the field.
And in footage shown on Italian TV, the 33-year-old was spotted motivating the entire team.
Ronaldo shakes hands with every Juve player, trying to get their focused for the upcoming 45 minutes.
He greets Emre Can and Giorgio Chiellini, bumps fists with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and then waits for team-mate Joao Cancelo to come into the tunnel from the dressing room.
Only then does Ronaldo follow his team-mates out into the stadium.
After the match Juventus manager Max Allegri admitted the performance was far from perfect despite the 3-2 aggregate win.
“We weren’t perfect, but we did do well to remain concentrated,” he said.
“There was the risk of taking a hysterical approach to the game, as the idea of the comeback had been talked about so much, but we had 95 minutes to get the job done.
“We did very well and the team deserve congratulations.
“It would’ve been really strange for Ronaldo to end his Champions League season with only one goal… He did well and the lads all contributed, including the fans providing a marvellous frame for the match.
“I think we gave a wonderful evening of football to all those passionate about the sport in Italy.”
