Juventus shares soar after Ronaldo hat-trick rescues Champions League

Turin, Mar 13 (AFP) Juventus shares soared by over 20% on the Milan stock exchange on Wednesday, the morning after Cristiano Ronaldo's incredible hat-trick rescued the Italian giants Champions League campaign. The Portuguese superstar added a late penalty to a pair of headers for a 3-0 win on the night and 3-2 on aggregate over Atletico Madrid to seal a place in the quarter-finals.

The Turin club's shares jumped by 23% after the Milan stock exchange opened before dipping to 17.09% later in the morning. In 90 minutes the five-time Ballon d'Or winner demonstrated why Juventus splashed out 100 million euros ($117 million) last summer to bring the Real Madrid star to Italy, in addition to his annual salary of 31 million euros.

"That's why Juventus bought me, to help them in games like this," the 34-year-old Ronaldo said after the game. The seven-time reigning Italian title-holders have not won the Champions League since 1996, and have finished runners-up twice in the past four seasons. (AFP) AH

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