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PARIS. – Tonight’s Champions League soccer quarter-final first leg between Juventus and Real Madrid pits two of Europe’s most in-form elite forwards against one another. Both Paulo Dybala and Cristiano Ronaldo have had to battle through some tricky patches this season, but now look close to their best ahead of the match in Turin.

Each of these forwards has had to overcome criticism this season to get back to the standards we have come to expect.
Ronaldo’s form in the Champions League has been exceptional – he has scored in every game this season, and 12 times in total – but he managed only four goals in La Liga before January 21.

Dybala, meanwhile, hit 10 goals in the opening six rounds of Italian Serie A, but only netted a further four league goals between the end of September and the beginning of March.
Those tough spells seem to be long forgotten. Aside from scoring three times in the two last-16 legs against Paris Saint-Germain, Ronaldo has 18 goals and three assists from his last nine league appearances.

Dybala ended his long wait for a European goal with the decisive second in the 2-1 win over Tottenham at Wembley and has directly contributed to five goals in Juve’s last five league matches. – AFP.