Fresh from vanquishing Atletico Madrid with his 39th Real Madrid hat trick, Cristiano Ronaldo will be guaranteed a hero's welcome when he returns to where his career began at Sporting Lisbon Tuesday. Ronaldo has another landmark in his sights as he is just two goals short of 100 in European competitions and history suggests he won't go easy on the side that handed him his breakthrough. The three-time World Player of the Year has scored on all five occasions he has faced his former clubs in the Champions League, netting twice against Sporting for Manchester United in 2007 and as Real produced a stunning late fightback from 1-0 down with 89 minutes played to win 2-1 when the sides met back in September. Despite that Ronaldo is still loved by the Sporting faithful and leading Portugal to its first ever international tournament win at Euro 2016 has only embellished his hero status in his homeland. "Divided heart," ran the headline in Lisbon sports daily Record Monday with a split picture of Ronaldo wearing a Sporting and Real jersey. Whilst a point will be enough for Madrid to seal its place in the knockout stages of the Champions League for a record 20th consecutive season, anything other than victory will end Sporting's chances of making the last 16. A first league victory over Atletico in four seasons Saturday also allowed Real to open up a four-point lead at the top of La Liga and extend its unbeaten run in all competitions to 29 games. The only debate over Ronaldo's return is whether he starts in a centre-forward role as he did against Atletico or whether Zinedine Zidane recalls the fit again Karim Benzema. Real appeared better balanced with Ronaldo flanked by Gareth Bale and Lucas Vazquez at the weekend, but Zidane has previously stated the "BBC" frontline of Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema will always start when fit. In other games it will be: CSKA Moscow vs. Bayer Leverkusen; Monaco vs. Tottenham Hotspur; Borussia Dortmund vs. Legia Warsaw; Leicester City vs. Club Brugge; FC Copenhagen vs. Porto; Sevilla vs. Juventus; Dinamo Zagreb vs. Lyon.
