A tricky draw nonetheless but Cristiano Ronaldo fans should remain confident ahead of the Real Madrid-Napoli tie in the 2016-17 Champions League Last 16.
The much awaited Last 16 draw took place on Monday at 6am ET/11am GMT/12pm CET and it was both brief and tantalizing. Real Madrid were the third team to come out of a bowl — the first two being England’s Manchester City and France’s AS Monaco.
This is how the draw turned out for the 11-time European champions:
It’s gonna be Cristiano Ronaldo vs Hamsik and Real Madrid vs Napoli! #UCLdraw Predictions? Tweet at us with your scores! pic.twitter.com/mKTUrZcenE
— CRonaldoDaily.com (@BreatheRonaldo) December 12, 2016
On Twitter, Napoli reacted in Italian by tweeting: “A fantastic challenge! We are happy to fight against a legend.”
Zinedine Zidane and his men should be glad to have avoided Arsenal, Premier League titleholders Leicester City or Italian giants Juventus.
This doesn’t mean that Napoli are a side to underestimate; after all, they won their UCL group and haven’t recorded a single defeat since going down 2-1 to Juventus in late October. In fact, they’ve scored 10 goals in their last three matches — conceding only once. Internazionale, Benfica and Cagliari are Napoli’s most recent victims.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid were shocked in the group stages. The reigning champions could not get the better of Borussia Dortmund on the last matchday. Despite possessing a 2-0 lead through a brace from Karim Benzema, Los Blancos saw that slip. The 2-2 result saw them miss out on the top spot. Was this a blessing in disguise? Time will tell.
In the meantime, it will be up to Los Blancos to avoid complacency come February and March when they will face Napoli in the UEFA Champions League Last 16. As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he will be looking to drastically improve his goalscoring rate in this season’s European campaign. He counts as many UCL goals (2) as Napoli’s talisman, Marek Hamsik. Hitting a century of UEFA Club goals is still pending on CR7’s to-do list.
Why Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid must NOT underestimate in-form Hamsik and Napoli:
105 Napoli goals for Marek "the most underrated midfielder in the world" Hamsik
— Badar Ali Akhtar (@ILPazzinho77) December 11, 2016
Stats from their latest game — a 5-0 mauling of Cagliari in the Italian Serie A:
Marek Hamsik's game by numbers vs. Cagliari:
100% take-ons
95% pass accuracy
5 chances created
3 assists
1 goalMagic Marek. ? pic.twitter.com/6HTRhbzXo7
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 11, 2016
Dries Mertens has scored a hat-trick for Napoli vs. Cagliari.
Marek Hamsik has a hat-trick of assists for Napoli vs. Cagliari.
Dream team. pic.twitter.com/HYXiKrWuum
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 11, 2016
Cristiano Ronaldo has NEVER faced Napoli in 14-year career. So what can we expect from King CR7 in the Champions League Last 16? #UCLDraw pic.twitter.com/zUAtmYLoCe
— CRonaldoDaily.com (@BreatheRonaldo) December 12, 2016
