Cristiano Ronaldo told Patrice Evra that Juventus would "smash" Atletico Madrid ahead of Tuesday's stunning Champions League victory in Turin.

The Portuguese superstar scored a record-equalling eighth Champions League hat-trick to lead Juve to a 3-0 win over Atletico, sending them to the quarter-finals courtesy of a 3-2 aggregate success.

Evra – who played with Ronaldo at Manchester United between 2006 and 2009 – took to Instagram to reveal a WhatsApp conversation between the pair that shows the Juve forward was in confident mood five days ahead of the clash.

Having played for Juve for three seasons until 2017, Evra told the 34-year-old he was counting on him to overturn the deficit from the first leg and Ronaldo responded by stating that his side would have no problems going through.

Alongside the screenshot of the conversation, Evra wrote: "Every big occasion with big pressure my brother always proves he is the man!!!

"This just shows you the confidence, the anger, the determination from the best player in the world."